


the niche that i was looking for

by ragnarokenroll



Series: Mercury-Hutton King AU [3]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: F/F, check each chapter for any warnings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2019-12-18 13:45:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 33,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18251063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ragnarokenroll/pseuds/ragnarokenroll
Summary: short stories about melina and jamie being a pair of useless lesbians sharing a life together





	1. and at least in this lifetime we're sticking together

**Author's Note:**

> hello yes im back sorry I just love these two together too much to let them go. some of these are probably gonna be shorter than the chapters on my other two fics.  
> also bc each chapter is going to be separate little stories, i’m open to suggestions! 
> 
> *chapter title from an interview freddie did describing jim :')

Sensing that today was going to be a good day, Melina opened her balcony window and threw her head back as she basked in the sun, feeling very much like a lizard on its favorite rock. She rolled her neck around, loosening the built-up tension caused by curling up into the same sleep position for the entire night. She reopened her eyes and called down to Jamie, who had already woken up to start the gardening.  
  
Jamie tilted her head up to locate Melina, who waved down at her with a grin Jamie could spot from a mile away. Jamie took off her sunhat and used it to wave back.  
Melina backed into her room, and decided that today was just the day for a small get-together. She invited her band and their kids over for the afternoon. They were taking a well-deserved break from their jobs, and Melina had not seen Jane or Brianna in several weeks. They all readily agreed, eager to do something with the lovely day.  
  
Everyone camped out in the main lawn for a few hours while the kids ran around the spacious yard, before eventually deciding it was too hot, and retiring back into the main living room.  
  
“Mommy, when is Miss Mina gonna get married?” Jane’s daughter, Jocelyn, asked her once everyone had relocated. When Jocelyn was younger, she had problems forming the whole name Melina. She said Mina instead, and the name seemed to stick, even as she grew much older. Melina certainly didn’t mind, she just thought it was precious.  
  
“Honey, she is married,” Jane told her daughter in a soft voice, making eye contact with said woman from across the room. They both knew the conversation was going to come up eventually, but Melina had also silently agreed to tone down the affection in front of children. Ron, as much as he cared for Melina, was a devout Catholic and still wrestled with the two ideas in his head.  
  
“But then where is he?” She demanded, stamping a tiny foot.  
  
“Do you remember that nice lady you wanted to talk to out in the garden this morning?” Jane asked, trying to quiet her daughter down from making a scene. The last thing she needed was everyone in the room to try to listen in on this conversation.  
  
“Yes! And you wouldn’t me see her because you said I was going to get dirt everywhere,” Jocelyn said with a pout.  
  
“Well, that’s who Miss Melina is married to,” Jane said simply. She could see Melina trying (and failing) to hide the smile that was growing on her face over the exchange.  
  
“But she’s a girl.” Jocelyn tilted her head.  
  
“Well, sometimes, girls marry other girls,” Jane explained. Jocelyn seemed to ponder that statement for a couple seconds, scrunching her face in thought.  
  
“Felicity is my friend!” Jocelyn cried out in excitement, pointing over to where Regina was lounging with her daughter jumping on her legs. “Can I marry her?”  
  
“Only if Felicity wants you to. And not until you’re much older,” Jane added as an afterthought.  
  
“Hey Felicity!” Jocelyn screamed, causing half the room to turn to her. Felicity nodded her head in excitement. “Do you wanna get married?”  
  
“Girls can’t marry girls, stupid,” Felicity said. Regina gave her daughter a stern look.  
  
“Yes they can! My mom said Miss Mina’s married to a girl,” Jocelyn shouted. Felicity turned to face Melina, who just nodded in mock-solemnity. Felicity thought about it for a long moment.  
  
“Okay,” she shrugged, and went back to jumping on Regina.  
  
“Well, what do you know? The Tories were right, you lesbians really are trying to corrupt our youth,” Regina joked. Brianna swatted at her arm, but Regina argued that if anyone had a right to get annoyed with her joke, it was Melina and she clearly wasn’t. Brianna had opened her mouth to respond but Jane cut in and pointed out that the children were behaving better than they were, which caused both of them to turn at the bassist with glares while Melina choked on her drink from laughing too hard.  
  


About an hour later, Jamie returned from her work in the garden. She was sweating profusely, and removed her sunhat to fan herself.  
  
“Darling, come over and have some lemonade,” Melina called, holding up a cold glass. Jamie walked over, her eyes fixed on the drink as if in a trance. She happily grabbed the cup from Melina’s hands and chugged all of the drink in one go, and bent over to pour herself a refill.  
  
“I lived in Ireland most of my life and I swear it never got this hot,” she declared, before grabbing a seat next to Melina.  
  
Jocelyn, looking up from her toy train to see Jamie, stormed over.  
  
“My mom says you’re married to Miss Mina,” she stated, placing her hands on her hips.   
  
“I am,” Jamie said, proudly, looking at the little girl with amusement. “This is the ring she bought me, do you want to see?” She asked kindly, holding her hand out to Jocelyn’s level, stretching her fingers. Jocelyn let out a delighted gasp and pulled Jamie’s hand closer to hers.  
  
“Let me see yours,” she demanded of Melina, who was all-too-happy to hold her hand out as well. Jocelyn held both of their hands a couple inches apart, as her head swiveled back and forth to compare them. She seemed to find whatever she was looking for, and nodded.  
  
“Me and Felicity are gonna get married,” Jocelyn informed Jamie. “And I’m gonna wear a big ring. With a diamond this big,” she said, stretching her arms out wide.  
Melina and Jamie both laughed at that.  
  
“Well congratulations, then,” Jamie told her with a smile.  
  
Jocelyn nodded back and ran back to her favorite train.  
  
“I suppose I should be offended,” Jamie turned to whisper to Melina. “I should have asked you for a diamond ring this big,” she said, holding her arms out like Jocelyn had done moments ago.  
  
“You’re right,” Melina sighed, placing a hand on her head in mock-shame. “I guess I just don’t love you enough,” she shook her head sadly.  
  
“You two are so sweet,” Regina cooed from across the room. “So sweet one might even be able to compare you to some kind of cheese.”  
  
“Oh my god, Regina, it’s been fifteen years. Get over it!” Brianna cried.


	2. you tell me you love her, i give you a grin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dating a celebrity gets complicated sometimes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up, this story takes place before melina and jamie have gotten engaged. Not all of the chapters are going to be in chronological order!

Jamie stood in the wings, craning her head to see the first groups of people climbing into their seats. She shook her head in amazement, still dizzy trying to imagine all those people looking at her, the way they looked at Melina. Soon after she slipped into her thoughts, another woman came to stand next to her.  
  
“Are you with the band?” She asked, peering over Jamie to look at the amassing crowd.  
  
“I’m with Melina,” Jamie answered, trying to find the compromise between telling the whole truth, and just outright lying.  
  
“Oh,” the woman said with a small sigh. “She’s really wonderful, isn’t she?” Jamie looked at the woman and tried to figure out who she was.  
  
“Yeah, she is,” Jamie said after a moment. “I’m Jamie,” she said, sticking out her hand in greeting.  
  
“Dana.” She returned the handshake. The two lapsed into a semi-comfortable silence, listening to the crowds of people, all of their voices crashing together to form an indistinguishable mass of noise. “So, if you’re with Melina, do you know about her…” she trailed off. “Y’know. The… thing.” Jamie was fairly certain she knew what Dana was talking about, but was too fascinated watching this woman say anything she could think of except for the word itself. “The… gay thing,” she finally said, defeated.  
  
“I do know about the gay thing,” Jamie said, trying to make sure her voice didn’t sound like she was laughing at the other woman, even though she very much wanted to. “Why do you?”  
  
“I’m Mark Austin’s girlfriend,” Dana said. She waited a moment to make sure Jamie knew who Mark was. “But I can’t tell people because that would defeat the whole point. It’s weird,” she sighed.  
  
“It is weird,” Jamie agreed.  
  
“It’s just… how the hell am I supposed to compete when my boyfriend’s last relationship was with Melina goddamn Mercury?” Dana cried out suddenly, causing Jamie to jump back in shock. “I mean, I know it’s okay to be jealous of your boyfriend’s exes, but this is just next level. Melina is a beautiful, talented, super rich and famous… sex symbol basically!” Dana threw her hands up.  
  
Jamie took a second to ponder those words. She knew how others perceived her girlfriend, but the simple phrase Dana had used put everything in perspective.  _Wow, she was dating a world-famous sex symbol_. She shook her head of those thoughts, and tried her best to comfort the other woman.  
  
“Well, Mark didn’t fall in love with Melina because she was some sexy famous rockstar with loads of money, even though she is that. He loved her because she’s kind. And passionate. And funny. All of those things,” Jamie nodded. “Which, I’m sure you are as well,” she added after a moment, seeing Dana’s eyes widen in panic.  
  
“So not only is she a celebrity, but she’s a perfect celebrity,” Dana cried, throwing her hands up in defeat.  
  
Jamie wanted to try to reassure her, but she knew somewhere deep down it would be a lie. You don’t ever really get over Melina Mercury, try as you might. She finds ways to nestle into your thoughts, you catch yourself thinking of her when you least expect it. Jamie was very sure that, god forbid, were she ever to find herself in a position to try to date someone else, they would always be competing with Melina in some small way, despite what she would tell them. And herself.  
  
She wouldn’t be surprised if Mark was still harboring a flame for Melina. She really couldn’t blame him if he was.  
  
“It’s just so weird,” Dana said, signaling that her rant was not yet over. “I’m just supposed to be okay that my boyfriend spends half his time running around with another woman, holding hands and laughing and acting like they’re this perfect couple. And they kind of are! Because Melina Mercury is a perfect person!” Dana cried in agony.  
  
Jamie just nodded along, hoping the other woman was not looking for a response.  
  
“What is it you do for Melina anyways?” Dana asked, her voice suddenly shifting into suspicion. Jamie shook her head at the sudden change in topic and tone.  
  
“You and I are in the same boat,” Jamie confessed. “I’m Melina’s girlfriend.”  
  
Dana’s eyes widened, and Jamie could see her mentally reviewing the past couple minutes of conversation with this new information in place.  
  
“Oh,” was all she said in response. “Well at least you know that when Mark and Melina walk around together, Melina doesn’t want to get back together with him. I have no such luck,” Dana said, trying to get herself back on equal footing. Jamie just shrugged in response, letting her have that win.  
  
“Hello, my love. Hello Dana,” Melina greeted as she walked over to the two of them, because speak of the devil. “I see you two have met one another.” Dana looked at Melina with wide eyes, a painful smile plastered onto her face. Melina eyed her with concern but did not say anything.  
  
“I’ll give you two a moment alone,” Dana said, scurrying away. Melina and Jamie were both silent as she shuffled down the wings of the stage.  
  
“Please tell me you get the same vibe I do,” Melina said, as soon as she was sure Dana was out of earshot. Jamie just shot her a confused look. “The lesbian vibe!” Melina emphasized.  
  
Jamie opened her mouth to deny it, but shut it again as she thought. The phrases, _‘she’s really wonderful, isn’t she?’_ and _‘beautiful, talented, super rich and famous sex symbol’_ and _‘Melina Mercury is a perfect person’_ seemed to fly through her brain at once. And suddenly she was very sure it wasn’t simple jealousy talking.  
  
Or at the very least, it wasn’t jealousy towards Melina.  
  
“Oh,” Jamie said with wide eyes. “Oh. Oh no.”  
  
“Poor Mark,” Melina said, watching Dana from across the room, attempting to dodge all of the various crewmen running every which way. “He just has the worst taste in women.”  
  
“I wouldn’t say that,” Jamie said, nudging Melina’s shoulder with her own. Melina turned to meet Jamie’s eyes and before either of them knew what was happening, they were both doubled over laughing, tears streaming from their eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lesbians... lesbians everywhere


	3. i'm staying up late just in case you come up and ask to leave with me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All I'm saying is that Jim and Freddie fought A LOT in mercury and me...

One of the things Jamie came to learn about spending a life with Melina was that if album recordings were in session, Melina tended not to come home until very late. In extreme circumstances, sometimes not at all. So when Jamie climbed into bed a quarter ‘til midnight, she didn’t think anything of her wife not being beside her.  
  
Being rung at two in the morning was a bit different, though.  
  
“Hello?” Jamie answered the phone, a yawn in her voice.  
  
“Oh Jamie, sorry, it’s usually Pete who picks up,” Brianna’s voice sounded on the other end.  
  
“Yeah, Mel gave her the night off. I think she might have a date, or something. Is everything alright?” Jamie’s voice turned worried, knowing that if Melina was able to, she would call herself.  
  
“Yes, everything’s fine,” Brianna hurried to reassure. “Mel’s just fallen asleep in the sound booth, and I was hoping Pete would send someone over to take her home.” Jamie let out a quick laugh.  
  
“Don’t worry, I can pick her up myself,” Jamie said. “I’ll be over in a minute.”  
  
“Great. See you,” Brianna said, before hanging up.  
  
Jamie rolled back over, and let herself lay flat, looking up at the ceiling. After her indulgent moment of wishing she could stay in bed, she forced herself to get up. She didn’t bother with changing into normal clothes. Instead, she just threw an old sweatshirt on top of her pajamas, and some raggedy tennis shoes.  
  


A short drive later she entered the studio to see Melina, still passed out on seat next to the audio equipment.  
  
“I’ll help you move her,” Regina said as a greeting. “I think she’s less likely to insist on continuing work if she wakes up away from the studio.”  
  
Jamie nodded in agreement, and the two huddled around Melina’s unconscious form. Regina carefully grabbed Melina’s legs while Jamie wrapped her hands around her shoulders. Regina mouthed a countdown and the two lifted the singer in sync. The slowly began to back out of the room. Jamie looked up to notice Brianna and Jane eyeing the three of them in amusement.  
  
Jane came out a moment later to open up the backdoor of the car, while they gently slid her inside.  
  
“Tell her not to come in tomorrow if she’s not up for it,” Jane said, eyeing Melina, who was miraculously still fast asleep.  
  
“She’ll want to come in,” Jamie said.  
  
“We all know she’ll insist on it,” Regina said, at the same time.  
  
“I’ll call her tomorrow morning and tell her one of the kids is sick, then,” Jane amended. “God know she needs the sleep.” The three of them all nodded together in solidarity. Then Regina and Jane both waved their goodbyes and turned to head back into the studio.  
  
“Jamie, she’s stubborn but try your best. I don’t care if you have to handcuff her to the bed to do it,” Regina said, quickly turning back around.  
  
“If I handcuffed her to the bed, she’d probably like it enough to stay,” Jamie joked, and Regina actually laughed out loud at that.  
  
“Oh, I know she would. And, hey. If you can find some other way to get her to stay in bed all day, it’s all fair in the end,” Regina said with a shrug and a wink. Jamie felt her face flush, but not as much as it probably would have just a year ago. She was building a tolerance to Melina and her innuendos.  
  


Melina did not wake up for the rest of the drive. Jamie parked the car and turned to look in the backseat, trying to figure out her options. Melina was definitely tiny enough for Jamie to lift with minimal issue, but Jamie also only had two hands.  
  
Somehow, someway, Jamie got Melina into the house, but she didn’t even bother trying to get Melina up all of those stairs. Instead, she lifted her over to the main floor living room couch, and fell backwards, letting Melina rest on top of her. She let out a gasp of breath, and tilted her head back, letting her eyes roll back into her head.  
  


Melina woke several hours later with a start, shooting straight up and looking around the room in confusion. The surge jolted her body forwards and she fell off the couch with an unflattering thump.  
  
Jamie, awoken by all the commotion, leaned over the couch to look at her wife who decided to remain on the ground.  
  
“What happened?” Melina asked, her voice hoarse with sleep and confusion.  
  
“You tired your body out to the point of exhaustion is what happened,” Jamie said, feeling more like she was talking to a naughty child than a woman three years her senior. Melina just looked at her with a pout. “And now that you’re able enough to move yourself, you can get upstairs and go back to sleep. Your body is clearly trying to send you a warning.”  
  
“But there’s so much work to do,” Melina argued, rolling over so she could climb to her feet. “We’ve already missed out on so much…”  
  
“Oh no you don’t,” Jamie said, pushing herself off the couch as well. “You’re not scheduled to meet at the studio until one and it is only eight. It’s a short drive to the studio so that’s at least four more hours you can spend sleeping.”  
  
The two stood tall, facing each other down, both refusing to budge. The showdown went on for several seconds before Pete walked into the room.  
  
“Jane Deacon just called,” she informed the two of them. “Her little boy seems to have caught a case of the stomach flu. She doesn’t want to leave him alone so she’s postponing until tomorrow.”  
  
“Isn’t that just convenient?” Melina said, eyeing the two of them suspiciously. Pete just looked at that in confusion, having missed most of the drama from the night before.  
  
“Are you suggesting I poisoned her son’s food to convince you to stay in bed?” Jamie asked, pointedly ignoring Melina’s actual implication.  
  
“I’m suggesting that the two of you made up some story to try to convince me to stay in bed,” Melina corrected, annoyed.  
  
“Well, if we did, it’s because we both care about you. And we want to take care of you, because you don’t seem to want to take care of yourself,” Jamie said, her voice raising with each word out of her mouth.  
  
“God, and you all accuse me of being dramatic. So I underslept this week. Guess what? It happens. That doesn’t mean I’m suddenly some five-year-old that the rest of the adults need to sneak around because they know better than me. I am a grown woman who can take care of her own body and her own job,” Melina argued, pointing a finger in Jamie’s face.  
  
Pete, seeing that this argument was going nowhere well, slowly backed out of the room.  
  
“Can you take of your own body? Because from what I see, you clearly can’t,” Jamie bit back.  
  
“I’m going to go to the studio, and I will work on my parts of the song because it is my job, which I am taking care of like a responsible adult, and you are not going to stop me. Because you are my wife and not my mother,” Melina yelled, picking up her shoes that Jamie had scattered the night before and storming out of the room.  
  
Jamie ran out of the room as well, but she sprinted to find Pete, who was making herself a coffee in the kitchen.  
  
“We have to stop her. She’s running herself dry and it’s not healthy,” Jamie pleaded.  
  
“Jamie, I work for her, not the other way around. I can’t really make her do something if she doesn’t want to do it. The best I can do is try to provide her some common sense, but it sounds like you’ve already tried it. Once she sets her mind up to it, there’s not much in the universe that can stop her,” Pete said, taking another sip of her coffee as if this type of thing happened to her three times a week. And to be fair, it probably did.  
  
Jamie let out a frustrated huff.  
  
“Can she not see that I’m doing all this because I care about her?” She yelled, but she wasn’t sure if she was doing it to Pete or the room itself.  
  
“Of course she does,” Pete responded anyways. “But Melina was left to her own devices at a very young age. She was at boarding school by the time she was eight. People haven’t always been around to take care of her, it all must feel so foreign,” Pete mused, holding her mug up to her chin.  
  
Jamie shook her head at that. She knew Melina went to boarding school, but hearing the words spoken aloud was jarring. Eight years old was _so young_. Did she even understand what was happening to her at that age? Or did it feel like her parents just shipped her onto a boat somewhere and dropped her off alone? No wonder she didn’t feel as though she could trust her parents half the time.  
  
“And she gets on my case for having an independent streak,” Jamie muttered. “Thank you,” she told Pete before sprinting out of the room and waving down the car Melina was about to get into.   
  
“Look, I’m not going to stop you. I just want to say one thing real quick before you go,” Jamie reassured. Melina looked at her with annoyance, one foot into the car door, but nodded her head to let Jamie speak. “Letting people take care of you every once in a while doesn’t make you weak,” Jamie said, the words spilling out of her mouth without thought. “I’m not doing any of this because I don’t trust you, or because I think I’m smarter than you or know better than you. I’m doing it because I love you and I want you safe and taken care of. If you think going over to the studio right now is the best thing for you, I won’t fight you on it. I just want you to know that no one will hold it against you if this song doesn’t get recorded today because you decided to take a day off. Because we all care about you. Even if you never write another song for the rest of your life, because you are more than your job, Melina. You have nothing to prove to any of us.”  
  
Jamie wasn’t sure if what she said made any sense, or had anything to do with what they were talking about previously. The words just felt like they needed to be said. Melina, whose eyes widened with every sentence Jamie said, looked conflicted as her single foot still remained through the car door.  
  
“I _have_ been going through a major blank in what I want the next chorus to say,” Melina admitted, her voice small. “I suppose a nap might clear some space in my brain to figure it out.” Jamie could have cried. But instead, she just revealed a tiny smile of her own.  
  
“Of course it will,” she insisted.  
  
Melina leaned through the car door to say something to Terry, who nodded in annoyance but began to move the car back into the garage.  
  
“Will you carry me to bed?” Melina asked.  
  
“Absolutely not,” Jamie snorted.  
  
“Yeah, but you’re the one who didn’t want me wearing my body out. And I’m feeling very tired,” Melina faked a yawn, a grin on her face. Jamie squinted her eyes.  
  
“If I carry you,” Jamie began, holding a finger up to cut Melina off, whose eyes were brightening in excitement. “You have to promise me that you’ll stay in bed at least until lunch-time.”  
  
“I think we can make that work,” Melina nodded in agreement. Jamie’s shoulders sagged but she dropped her arms down, letting Melina step into them. “Yay,” she exclaimed, resting her head against Jamie’s chest as Jamie carried her bridal-style through the house.  
  
“You are so spoiled,” Jamie commented, adjusting Melina slightly so that her shoulders were freer to move around.  
  
“Yes, but you spoil me because you _love_ me,” Melina teased, drawing out the love like she was a child on the playground.  
  
“Spoiled children also deserve to get spanked,” Jamie commented as she began the climb to the upstairs bedroom. Melina let out a gasp of delight.  
  
“How many hours do I have to stay in bed in order to get you to agree to that?” she asked, innocently.  
  
“Oh, I’m happy to do that free of charge,” Jamie said, kicking the bedroom door open. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, so i'm thinking of maybe trying to update these stories once a week on monday nights? obviously if i run out of story ideas, it might not get posted that often but right now i've got a handful mostly written out. 
> 
> hope y'all are doing well, and please appreciate the fact that i considered posting a mark/melina story just for april fool's day but decided against it.


	4. i'm ripe about to fall, capture me or at least take my picture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> melina's past comes back to haunt her

“It’s just so weird,” her brother moaned. “You dating Melina Mercury. You married to Melina Mercury.”  
  
Jamie noticed that people had a tendency to use her fiancé’s full name when they were trying to make a point about her celebrity status. She could never just be Melina. She always had to be _Melina Mercury_.  
  
“It’s not that weird,” Jamie replied.  
  
“It’s very weird,” Jacob argued. “I had a pinup of her in my room when I was younger.”  
  
“You what?” Jamie asked, her mouth flying open. “What do you? Wait. What?”  
  
Jacob just nodded his head, refusing to elaborate further. The two sat in silence for a moment while Jamie considered the very real possibility that her brother had jacked off to sexy pictures of the woman she was getting ready to marry. Suddenly his reaction at Aileen’s wedding made a lot more sense. Jacob was not starstruck meeting Melina because she was a simple celebrity, he was starstruck meeting the human embodiment of his teenage fantasies. Which was just… gross.  
  
“I need to see these pictures,” Jamie suddenly insisted. She swatted at Jacob when he started waggling his eyebrows at her.  
  
“They might have gotten thrown out when I moved out of the house,” Jacob said and the two climbed the stairs up into the attic, otherwise known as the family makeshift storage unit-slash-junkpile. They both huddled in the corner where Jacob’s junk was packed and began rummaging through the pile of stuff both had forgotten about long ago.  
  
“Aha!” Jacob cried after ten minutes of searching. He had a folded-up paper in his hands. He slowly uncurled the poster, trying hard not to rip the old material. He looked at the photo for a moment, angling it away from Jamie’s face, and just stared. Several different emotions seemed to cross his face before he finally handed the picture over to Jamie.  
  
The photo was in black and white. Melina was lying flat on a bed, her hands over her head. She was wearing an untied bathrobe that draped carefully over her breasts, barely covering anything but the nipple. She wore unzipped leather pants that exposed her tiny lacy panties. The photo was taken back when she had longer hair, which spilled around her face like a halo. She looked up at the camera with the most intense pair of bedroom eyes Jamie had ever seen captured onto the still image.  
  
“Oh my god,” Jamie whispered, looking at the picture with a mixture of horror and awe.  
  
“You know, I was ashamed before when I mentioned it, but looking at it again, I stand by my teenage actions,” Jacob spoke up, glancing over Jamie’s shoulder at the photo again. “Your future wife is super-hot.”  
  
Jamie agreed, of course. But the entire situation was just way too bizarre. Jacob slowly took the picture from his sisters’ hand, and folded it back up.  
  
“Are you keeping it?” Jamie asked in horror, watching him put it into his back pocket.  
  
“Why do you want it? You’ve got the real thing!” He cried.  
  
“But why do you want it?” She insisted. Jacob just fixed her with an intense look, and Jamie caught on almost immediately. “Oh my god,” she cried in disgust. “I’m not gonna let you keep pictures so you can fantasize about my wife!”  
  
“She’s not your wife yet,” her brother corrected.  
  
“That doesn’t make it any better,” Jamie shouted. They stared each other down for a long moment. “I could tell mom,” Jamie threatened, knowing her mother was down in her bedroom, and would absolutely tear Jacob apart for this if she found out. She had never been afraid to give any of her children a good paddling when they were younger, and she could tell that the fear of it still remained from Jacob’s widening eyes.  
  
“You wouldn’t,” he said, finally sounding just as horrified as Jamie felt.  
  
“Wouldn’t I?” She challenged.  
  
“No, because you’re my sister and we’re family and we love each other too much,” Jacob pleaded.  
  
“Hey mom!” Jamie called down, loud enough so that their mother could hear her from downstairs. Jacob was frantically waving his hands in her face and mouthing the word ‘no’ over and over again. “Can you come up here, I wanna show you something real quick.”  
  
“Okay. Fine, fine, fine,” Jacob yelled, pulling the picture out of his pocket and throwing it into Jamie’s hand as if it had burned him. Jamie fixed him with a smug look.  
  
“Never mind,” she called down. “I figured it out.”  
  


“How was your trip back home?” Melina asked as Jamie walked through the front door, giving her a quick peck on the cheek as she took Jamie’s smaller suitcase and began walking it upstairs.  
  
“Pretty good. It’s always nice to see my mom,” Jamie replied, not bothering to talk as she dragged her luggage upstairs, thoroughly out of breath. “I did have a weird conversation with my brother, though.”  
  
“Which one?” Melina asked, slamming Jamie’s suitcase on floor next to the bed.  
  
“Jacob. You met him at Aileen’s wedding a little while back,” Jamie said.  
  
“Oh yeah!” Melina said. “And how’s he doing?” She asked, spinning around to sit on the edge of the bed as she watched Jamie put her clothes back into the dresser.  
  
“Pretty good. He just got a new contract for a pretty large house, so he’s been plenty busy. But the weird thing was, I got him on a day off and he told me about this,” Jamie said, pulling the pin-up from the bag’s front zipper pocket. She passed it over to Melina, who unfolded the paper curiously.  
  
“Holy shit,” Melina said, looking at the old picture of her. “I remember this. God, I was such a tart,” she shook her head. “Why were you talking to your brother about this?”  
  
“He used to have it on his wall,” Jamie said with a laugh. Melina snorted as well.  
  
“So are all Hutton’s just wildly attracted to me or are you two just the outliers?” Melina teased.  
  
“Oh, shut up,” Jamie said, pulling a dirty sock out of her bag and tossing it at Melina’s head, who let out a shrill scream and tossed it away. “My mom did seem pretty compelled by you in that white leotard, now that you mention it,” Jamie pretended to think, placing a finger on her chin.  
  
“When did your mother see me in a leotard?” Melina asked.  
  
“My father apparently had some old tapes of yours from the seventies,” Jamie shrugged.  
  
“Jesus, how much of your family has seen me half-naked?” Melina asked in dread. “These are not the things you tend to think about when you’re twenty-five years old and high on success.”  
  
“And how do you think I feel?” Jamie asked, only half joking. She sat next to Melina on the edge of the bed as the two returned their eyes to the now very creased pin-up. “Whose bed was it?” She asked, in total curiosity.  
  
“It was in a hotel on tour,” Melina said quietly. “The photographer was a friend of mine. I don’t know what I was doing,” Melina said, trying to justify the picture that neither of them could take their eyes off of.  
  
“I think it’s cute,” Jamie defended.  
  
“I clearly wasn’t aiming for cute, though,” Melina said. “God, what the hell,” she said, thrusting the picture away from her into Jamie’s chest.  
  
“Do you have tape anywhere? I think we should hang this up,” Jamie continued on, delighting in Melina’s continuously reddening face.  
  
“I’m ending our engagement,” Melina said blankly. “Find some other poor woman to torment. I’m sure you did things that were just as embarrassing when you were this age.”  
  
“I promise you nothing I did in my twenties looked like this,” Jamie said, waving around the cursed pin-up. “Aha!” She cried after a few seconds of searching through Melina’s drawer. “Tape.”  
  
“Don’t you dare,” Melina commanded as Jamie pinned the picture against the wall, right next to the side of the bed she slept on, and taped the edges.  
  
“Lovely,” Jamie said, pointedly ignoring Melina’s withering glare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed that! i'm not sure if I mentioned on this fic yet but I'm free to talk over at jimhuttonlesbian.tumblr.com! come say hi!! 
> 
> the pic this story is centered around is loosely based on this real photoshoot from freddie:  
> https://jimhuttonlesbian.tumblr.com/post/182127507080/silveryowl07-freddie-being-sexy-and-adorable-as


	5. but i've been anywhere and it's not what i want, i wanna be still with you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night they met, Jamie and Melina left the party to go have a chat. This is the conversation that went down. Or at least part of it. (Let those two have some secrets to themselves.)

“I’ve gotta warn you, my landlord is a bit nosy. He never actually tries to make long conversation, but he will probably watch us when we try to go upstairs,” Jamie explained, holding the door handle as she stood on the porch steps.  
  
Melina nodded in understanding as Jamie opened the door. They tried to tiptoe up the stairs, but by the time they got halfway up, a door could be heard opening and an older gentleman stepped out.  
  
“Hello,” he greeted as the two women froze in their spots.  
  
“Hello,” Jamie said back. “Sorry if we woke you, I know I’m not usually out this late.”  
  
“Oh, it’s fine. I was just up watching television. Who’s your friend here?” The older man said, squinting his eyes.  
  
“This is Melina,” Jamie said. Melina bent over the stair railing and offered him a hand. He shook it lightly, a curious look in his eye.  
  
“Nice to meet you. Well, don’t let me keep you,” he said with a wave of his hand, walking back to his front door.  
  
“Good to see you, Mr. Norbury!” Jamie said, before beginning her climb back up the stairs. The two slipped through Jamie’s front door. They both looked around at Jamie’s small apartment, Melina in curiosity and Jamie in mild embarrassment.  
  
“It’s not much, especially not compared to your house but… it’s home, you know,” Jamie said with a shrug, bending over her miniature fridge. “There’s not much of a selection. This is all I’ve got,” she said, holding out a cheap six pack.  
  
“I think it’s lovely,” Melina insisted, plopping down on Jamie’s couch before wincing. Jesus, what was that thing made of, rocks? “And that works perfectly,” she said, patting the seat next to her. Jamie sat down, much slower than Melina, shifting around as she tried to find a comfortable position.  
  
The two ended up on both sides of the couch, their legs intertwining as Jamie passed the beer over. They took a moment to take a sip.  
  
“So, you promised me you’d tell me that long story now,” Jamie reminded, the grin on her face suggesting that she wouldn’t press it if Melina didn’t want to talk.  
Melina took another long sip of her beer.  
  
“What story was that again?” she joked.  
  
“The one where someone like you should be able to find better people to hang out with than the idiots who are currently trashing your house,” Jamie insisted. “I don't think I saw your band. What’s the story there? Just work friends?”  
  
“Oh, I adore the three of them. I could rave for ages about that if you wanted. In fact, I feel as though I should give you a quick crash course, seeing as you don’t know who the hell King is anyways,” Melina said, shaking her head.  
  
“I’d be up for that,” Jamie said.  
  
“Okay, there’s four of us together. I do vocals, and piano if the song calls for it. Then there’s Brianna May on guitar, Regina Taylor on drums, and Jane Deacon on bass. Brianna almost got a doctorate in astrophysics so she’s supposed to be the smart one in the group. And doesn’t let anyone forget that either. Jane is our secret weapon. Everyone underestimates her because she’s shy but she’s a vicious little thing when she wants to be. And Regina… well you have to meet her in person to really get it. She’s this blonde haired, blue-eyed slut, which I say with all the love in my heart because she’s my best friend and I’m also a slut, too. Nothing wrong with being a slut, you know.”  
  
“Most people don’t like being called sluts but you’re right. Nothing wrong with casual relationships,” Jamie said, trying to process all of the information she heard. “So Brianna’s on guitar, and she’s the pretentious one. Jane’s on bass, and she’s shy but sharp, and Regina’s a slutty drummer.”  
  
“Perfect!” Melina exclaimed. They both raised their arms in celebration, but Jamie knew it would be a miracle if she could remember half of that in the morning.  
  
“So were they at your party then?” Jamie said, trying to picture the guests from an hour ago, wondering if she had spotted them.  
  
“Oh, they came by for a bit. But they have families, you know? Brianna and Jane are married with children. Jane’s already on baby number four, though I have no idea how she does it. Regina’s not married but she’s basically committed to her boyfriend. They have a baby together. I have no idea why he hasn’t popped the question, but they both seem content so who am I to care?” Melina explained. Jamie noticed that Melina tended to ramble a bit once she got in the mood. She idly wondered if this was an effect of the alcohol or if she was just like that. “Can you imagine four kids?” Melina asked suddenly.  
  
“I have nine siblings, so yes, actually,” Jamie said. Melina sat up in shock.  
  
“Nine?” She repeated. “I have one brother and sometimes that was too much. Nine?” She asked again, as if Jamie would admit that she was joking.  
  
“Nine,” Jamie confirmed.  
  
“I’m talking too much about myself,” Melina said, rapidly. “Tell me more about you,” she demanded, clapping her hands together.  
  
“I’m not very interesting,” Jamie defended.  
  
“I’m sure you’re plenty interesting. Just tell me something about you, like where do you work?” Melina argued, patting the couch in front of her rapidly in insistence.  
  
“I’m a hairdresser,” Jamie said, shrugging. There wasn’t really much else to say about it, really.  
  
“And do you like what you do?” Melina insisted.  
  
“Sometimes. The customers are lovely. The people I work for, not so much,” Jamie said. Melina just nodded, trying to get Jamie to continue. “It’s nothing really. The lady who owns the place inherited it from her father, but doesn’t want to put any of the work he did, so we all have to pick up her slack. And she’s not really the appreciative type. But I don’t really want to talk about work right now,” Jamie said.  
  
“Fair enough,” Melina replied. “Then tell me something else. What do you do for fun?”  
  
“Not much really. I like to go down to the local pubs sometimes to get a drink. I garden a little. I hang out with the stray who’s been hanging near my window. Nothing too exciting,” Jamie rambled, hoping her joke would cover for her awkward answers.   
  
“Stray cat?” Melina asked, her eyes lighting up.  
  
“Yeah, he’s a little black and brown tabby. I call him Scotty. You like cats?” Jamie guessed.  
  
“I love cats,” Melina corrected. “I’ve got six of them back home. Miko, Delilah, Lily, Romeo, Tiffany, and Oscar. They each have their own rooms,” she confessed.  
  
“Well, you certainly have the space for it,” Jamie laughed. “Do you… do you live alone?” Jamie asked, the question had been bugging her for most of the night, but she couldn’t find a way to phrase it more delicately.  
  
“I have a personal assistant named Pete Freestone. Well, I call her Pete. Her real name is Phoebe. But she lives with me. I told her she could take the night off, I think she had a date.”  
  
Jamie’s shoulders sagged in relief, though she wasn’t sure why she was so concerned. She just had a feeling that if Melina was living alone in a house that big, it would be hard to ignore if she were the only one there. Or, the only human there, at least. It was always good to have at least one other person nearby.  
  
“Well, I think the party would have gone much better if you had just let the cats roam around instead,” Jamie joked, trying to fill the silence that was beginning to fall.  
  
“So do I,” Melina said, a small smile forming behind her beer can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter down!  
> Also, does anyone have any suggestions for a chapter they’d like to read in the future? Just let me know!


	6. so tonight, tonight, the boys are gonna go for more, more, more

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jamie becomes an official member of the Husbands Club.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a request on the last chapter on the girls’ husbands/boyfriends, and I was already halfway through this story! I’m not one hundred percent happy with the result, but I hope you enjoy this chapter anyways! 
> 
> (General chapter warning: mentions of alcohol/being drunk throughout the chapter and a minor case of sexual harassment, but nothing physical. If that upsets you in any way, just ignore from “round two” and skip to “round three!”)

Jamie Hutton was never one to enjoy shopping.  
  
There was nothing exciting to her about standing around for hours looking at things that she knew she wasn’t going to buy anyways. Then, because she never had enough money to afford it. And now because it always felt like she was taking advantage of Melina in someway if she ever made an expensive purchase. Melina always insisted that they were married, and that meant Jamie got half of everything, but still. It felt wrong.  
  
And so when Melina took her out on a pseudo double-date with Regina and her boyfriend Dominick, she was disappointed to find that Melina and Regina intended to go on an extensive shopping spree rather than some kind of lunch or film. Dom came to her rescue and insisted that they would go fetch some ice cream at the food court and meet them back in an hour or so. Jamie could have kissed him.  
  
“How have you and Melina been doing? Married life treating you well?” Dom asked as the two began digging in.  
  
“Pretty good,” Jamie answered, having to take a second to swallow her bite first. “We were living together for well over a year before I proposed so it’s not very different, but it works. It’s nice. And you and Regina?”  
  
“Regina’s doing well. Though I think Melina would probably clue you in if she wasn’t. Nothing gets past those two,” he said with a laugh.  
  
“I sometimes feel like I got two for the price of one with this marriage,” Jamie agreed, and Dom tried very hard not to choke on his dessert. Jamie laughed at that and fell silent, allowing him to recover and pretend nothing had happened.  
  
“Hey do you like sports?” Dom asked suddenly, causing Jamie to eye him with caution.  
  
“I don’t mind them. Why?” She asked.  
  
“Oh, no. Not because of that,” he shook his head. “Just because the boys and I have this sort of Husband Club get together every once in a while. And you’re officially a part of it too, now.”  
  
“But I’m not a husband?” Jamie asked, her eyebrows furrowed.  
  
“Well, neither of us are, technically. It’s just a quicker name than ‘Boyfriends, Husbands and Wives’ club. So Husbands Club it is. We just get together and grab drinks on nights when we know the girls would be out late recording. Would you want to join us one night?”  
  
Truth be told, that was not the type of thing Jamie would be interested in.  
  
“If everyone else is okay with it, I wouldn’t mind,” Jamie said, to be polite.  
  
“We all like you Jamie,” Dom insisted. “Of course none of us would mind.”  
  


“Looking for something?” Melina asked, watching her wife run around the room as she laid draped across the bed. “It must be important because here I am, delectable as ever, being ignored by my own wife,” she complained, sticking a leg in the air for dramatic effect.  
  
“Yes, I’m looking for the old leather jacket I wore last year, but I can’t find it,” Jamie answered, completely ignoring Melina’s other comments.  
  
“It got moved to storage in the spring,” Melina hummed.  
  
“Thank you,” Jamie yelled as she ran out the door towards the basement, leaving Melina sprawled on the bed in annoyance.  
  
“You going out somewhere?” Melina asked when Jamie finally returned from her quest.  
  
“Regina’s boyfriend invited me out for drinks while you all work at the studio tonight,” Jamie said with a nod, standing in front of the mirror to make sure the jacket still fit.  
  
“That’ll be nice,” Melina said. “Sounds much more fun than several hours of Regina and Brianna bickering over what tempo the next song should be.”  
  
“But you love it,” Jamie finished for her.  
  
“I do,” Melina agreed with a smile.  
  


When Jamie walked through the door of the pub, she felt several faces turn to leer at her. She tugged her jacket closer to herself and scanned the room quickly, avoiding all unwanted eye contact. She eventually noticed the three men at a room in the back, Dom waving at her. She quickly shuffled over. Dominick and Ron, Jane’s husband, were already there.  
  
“Chris should be here in a minute,” Dom told her, as she sat down. “He’s always a bit late.”  
  
“I don’t see how Brianna stands it, seeing as she’s so punctual,” Ron said.  
  
Jamie didn’t know much about Ron other than what Melina had told her. She knew he was married to Jane, and they had four children together, he was a quieter soul that enjoyed staying out of the limelight as much as possible and worked as a teacher at one of the local secondary schools.  
  
“Sometimes opposites really do attract,” Dom said with a shrug.  
  
Chris did show up about ten minutes later, making hasty excuses about poor traffic, but Ron and Dom just rolled their eyes, as if they had heard the same story before. The four of them settled into a routine soon after, and the first drinks were ordered.

 

FIRST ROUND  
  
“You weren’t there,” Chris realized, his eyes widening. “This concert was legendary,” he insisted, his eyes lighting up. “About halfway through the show, some of the power starts going a little haywire. Soon enough, all sound connected to Bri’s guitar completely cuts off,” he explained as if he’s telling an animated ghost story. Jamie nodded along as she tries to understand why this would make a concert as exciting as Chris had been making it out to be for the past five minutes. “Well, one of her solos is coming up and you can tell even from backstage that something is seriously going wrong. But without missing a beat, Melina just tilts the microphone back and begins _singing the guitar solo._ ”  
  
Jamie actually laughed out loud at that. Not because she was surprised, because that is definitely something Melina would do. But because of just how ridiculous it sounded and how much it seemed to please Chris, even after almost ten years.  
  
“How does that even work?” Jamie said as the rest of the group laughed along.  
  
“I bought the tape as soon as it went on sale. I’ll have to show it to you the next time you two come over,” Chris insisted.  
  
“Cheers to guitar solos,” Ron said, and they all clashed their drinks together.  
  


SECOND ROUND  
  
“And then,” Dom continued on, his face full of glee. “Melina sees this guy, literally two times her size and begins to-” he trailed off suddenly.  
  
“She one of yours?” Jamie heard a man slur as he stumbled towards the table. She turned to see a man, looking nearly twice her age, his eyes hungry. She noticed that the three men at the table looked as disgusted as she felt.

"No, but that doesn’t mean she’s not taken,” Chris said, his voice clearly indicating that this man should get away from him as soon as possible.  
  
“Your boyfriend lets you hang out with all these men?” The man asked in outrage. “You some kind of slut or something?”  
  
Jamie shook her head and tried to think of a response but before she could say anything, the bartender walked over to the group. Jamie looked up to see that Ron had gotten up at some point during the drunk man’s tirade, and gotten his assistance.  
  
“Well fuck that dude,” Dom said. “Another round?”  
  


THIRD ROUND  
  
“Can I ask you something?” Chris said, his voice suddenly turning serious.  
  
“Of course?” Jamie said in confusion. They had been talking now for well over an hour.  
  
“I don’t want to be offensive,” he said. “I don’t want to offend you and if I do just tell me to shut up. Because I don’t want you to be upset. I’m not trying to be rude,” he continued, seemingly unaware of the fact that he was saying the same thing over and over again.  
  
“Just say it,” Jamie shrugged.  
  
“So, like. You and Melina… you do have… I mean you have sex,” Chris stumbled over his words, the alcohol probably not helping anything.  
  
“Is that a question?” Jamie asked, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Dom was signaling for him to stop talking.  
  
“I mean. What is sex for you? Because… what’s going where? What’s being… where do you,” he stopped himself in confusion. Dom had thudded his head onto the table.  
  
“How about I order the next round of drinks instead?” Jamie offered.  
  


FOURTH ROUND  
  
“Are you sure you’re good, Jamie?” Ron asked in concern as Jamie downed her fourth drink.  
  
“I’m Irish,” Jamie said, as if that answered his question. “I’m a heavy drinker, my whole family’s Catholic and I love potatoes. I am in many ways a walking stereotype. All I need left is red hair and I’m set.”  
  
“You’re Catholic?” Ron asked in curiosity.  
  
“Yep. My whole family is,” Jamie nodded proudly.  
  
“Mine too,” Ron said with a small smile. “Are they happy with you and Melina?”  
  
“Well, I haven’t told all of them. But my mother dealt with it well. The general consensus seems to be that it’s odd but if I’m happy then,” she shrugged as if to say ‘why bother?’  
  
“That’s good,” Ron nodded. “I don’t pretend to understand all of it. And it used to be harder for me. But now that I have kids of my own, the thought of loving them any less. Well, I wouldn’t. Let’s just put it at that.”  
  
“Amen,” Dom said, holding his drink up for another toast.  
  
“It really is crazy to think about how much you’re told as a child that gay people are evil and want to corrupt your children. Especially when all you have to do is meet a gay person and all of it falls apart. Anyone who meets Melina just falls in love with her. The very idea of her being malicious in any way is just absolute bullshit,” Chris spat.  
  
“Not that I don’t agree with you all but we’ve reached the drunken rant portion of the night which usually means it’s time to wrap up,” Dom said with a laugh, casually moving Chris’s drink to the other side of the table, making it hard to reach.  
  
Jamie looked over at the watch in the corner of the room to realize that it was nearing midnight. She blinked in surprise; usually long groups of socializing seemed like agony to get through. She actually had… dare she say it? Fun?  
  


“Have a good time?” Melina asked with a laugh, noticing that Jamie seemed unable to separate the sheets from the comforter in order to climb into bed. She intentionally did not comment on the fact that Jamie had woken her up from accidentally slamming herself into the wall by their bedroom.  
  
Or the fact that it took her a good minute and a half to cross the small space between the door and the bed.  
  
Or that she didn’t seem to notice that she was still wearing her leather jacket and shoes as she fumbled with her sheets.  
  
“They’re nice,” Jamie said simply, finally able to pull her side of the covers up. “We spent most of the time talking. All three of them adore you,” Jamie said, finally looking at Melina, who was looking back at her with amused eyes.  
  
“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” Melina said. “But you should really go to bed. I have a feeling you’re going to wake up with a killer hangover.”  
  
“You underestimate me,” Jamie grumbled.  
  
“I would never,” Melina said, pulling the blanket over Jamie with her loose arm.  
  
“You’re my favorite person, you know,” Jamie muttered, her voice slurring from fatigue and alcohol.  
  
“And you’re much more affectionate when you’re drunk,” Melina commented.  
  
“It’s still true,” Jamie pouted.  
  
“I know it is. Now go to bed,” Melina ordered, and Jamie did just that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a bonus line I couldn’t fit in:  
> “We brought you ice cream,” Jamie announced, waving the small cup around in her hands. Melina let out a gasp of delight, prompting Jamie to seriously worry, not for the first time, about how low her standards were sometimes.


	7. mom, i’ll be quiet, it would be just to sleep at night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The most important woman in Melina’s life meets the other most important woman in Melina’s life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> General chapter warnings: the chapter contains fairly explicit mentions of sex, but it doesn't go on for too long.

It starts with Melina’s tongue inside of Jamie.  
  
Or more accurately, it starts the second Melina removes her tongue very suddenly from Jamie with no sign of reentering soon.  
  
When Jamie’s spaced out mind caught on to what was happening, she let out a small moan and sat up from her position on the bed to look down at Melina with pleading eyes, expecting her wife to be looking up at her with a teasing grin. Instead, her eyes had glazed over and she seemed to be mouthing something to herself.  
  
“What are you doing?” Jamie whined, already losing the buzz that Melina had so nicely built up for her.  
  
“I think I’ve figured out how the next verse for the song should go, it’s been bugging me for weeks. I’m trying to work it out,” Melina explained rapidly, her eyes darting back and forth between Jamie and the spare guitar sitting in the corner.  
  
“And you couldn’t have waited another couple of minutes to figure it out?” Jamie tried to keep her voice from sounding too petulant, but _really_.  
  
“Fine,” Melina said, maneuvering herself so that her fingers could reside where her tongue was moments ago. Jamie sucked in a gasp and let her head tilt back in pleasure. After a few moments in a daze, Jamie could only just barely register the fact that Melina seemed to be making some kind of noise as well. She furrowed her brow in concentration, and could just make out what she was saying. Or rather, singing.  
  
_“Yes, you are in charge of my heart, I gave you the key and turned on the bed”_  
  
“Are you really… still thinking… about this song?” Jamie gasped out, needing to take long pauses every couple of words. Melina really was quite good at all of this.  
  
“I can do both. I am an efficient multitasker,” Melina argued, and Jamie could concede that she wasn’t technically wrong. Just as Jamie was finally reaching climax, there was a loud bang on the door. Jamie sat up in shock from the noise, nearly kicking Melina in the face.  
  
“Melina,” Pete said, softly from the other side. “Your mother’s here.”  
  
“At the door?” Melina cried out, sitting up and staring at Jamie with panicked eyes.  
  
“She’s waiting downstairs,” Pete reassured, and the footsteps that followed alerted them that she had gone back to where Jer was waiting, probably to offer her some tea or biscuits.  
  
Melina let out a large breath of air and just looked at Jamie, as if she expected her to have the answers.  
  
“Raincheck?” Jamie joked quietly as reached for her pants that had been strewn onto the floor, and began zipping them back up. “Hey,” she said, taking Melina’s face into her hands when she didn’t respond. “I’m gonna go back down into the garden and you can make sure your mom is okay, and everything is going to be fine,” she insisted.  
  
“Yeah,” Melina just nodded absentmindedly.  
  
Jamie could admit that the thought of having to run around her own house and move her things into a different room just to make sure it didn’t look like she actually lived in the same room as Melina was frustrating at times. Either way, she understood why she needed to do it. But it tore Jamie apart to see the look of shame on her wife’s face. She could live with the idea of Melina needing to hide her, but she couldn’t stand the idea of Melina needing to hide herself.  
  
“I’ll hold this for you,” Jamie said with a soft smile as she took Melina’s hand, or more specifically her ring, into her fingers, carefully sliding the jewelry off. “Don’t wanna let anything happen to it.”  
  
Melina returned her smile with a sad one of her own, and pecked a quick thank-you kiss to Jamie’s cheek.  
  
“I don’t deserve you,” she whispered quietly into Jamie’s ear, running down the stairs to greet her mother before Jamie could correct her.  


Jamie, making sure the coast was clear, snuck out through the back way and made her way to the garden to work. She kneeled down into the dirt and let her mind wander off, not even bothering to think about the morning’s events more than she already had. She remained mostly successful until about midday when an older woman came out and fixed her eyes on Jamie for a long moment.  
  
“And these are the gardens,” Melina said, following her mother out the door.  
  
“They’re lovely,” the woman said, smiling at the view, and then at Jamie herself.  
  
This was the first time Jamie had ever seen Melina’s mother, but she could see the resemblance in a heartbeat. She had Melina’s thick hair, though hers had long turned grey, and her sharp cheekbones, but most striking of all, she had Melina’s kindling eyes.  
  
“Hello,” she greeted Jamie with a wave.  
  
“Hello,” Jamie waved back, removing her muddy gloves to shake her hand. Their eyes both seemed to linger on Jamie's wedding band, which she had not bothered to take off.   
  
“You’ve done a wonderful job out here,” the woman complimented. “I’ve never seen the flowers look quite so… lively. I’m Melina’s mother, Jer.”  
  
“My name’s Jamie Hutton,” Jamie returned. “And thank you, I really do love this garden.”  
  
“How long have you been working here?” Jer asked, bending over to examine one of the azaleas.  
  
“It’s been a little over two years at this point,” Jamie said, blinking for a moment as she pondered that. It hadn’t felt like any time at all, really. She looked up to see Melina looking at her with intense eyes, but she couldn’t quite get a read on what she was trying to convey.  
  
“Well let’s hope you stick around for a little while. Things seem to be going well,” Jer said with another polite smile before motioning for Melina to take them back inside.  
  
Melina waved to Jamie for a moment behind her mother’s back before returning inside. Jamie sat on her knees and thought about the short conversation she had just had. She couldn’t quite shake the feeling that that her and Mrs. Bulsara weren’t actually talking about the flowers at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, let’s just say that despite herself, Melina talked a bit too highly and a bit too in-depth about the cute gardener over tea. Her mother caught on pretty quickly. 
> 
> There was a request for Jamie meeting Jer, and I know the actual dialogue between them was a bit short, but that was intentional.


	8. just two slow dancers, last ones out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which melina knows how to get what she wants, and jamie lets her get away with it

“You’re a Beatles fan, right?” Melina asked, staring Jamie down from across her kitchen table with a calculating look in her eye.  
  
“Isn’t everyone a Beatles fan?” Jamie joked, taking a bite of her toast.  
  
“Just making sure,” Melina defended. “You didn’t know King.”  
  
Melina, Jamie thought to herself, was the only person in the world that could compare herself to the Beatles, and still somehow not sound arrogant in the slightest.  
  
“Fine. Yes, I like the Beatles. I’m pretty sure if you don’t, you get shot on sight or something,” Jamie said. “Why do you ask?”  
  
“No reason,” Melina hummed, which definitely meant that there was a reason.  
  


“Please?” Melina asked, as she draped herself pitifully across the bed, a pout on her face. Jamie reminded herself over and over again that it was not cute, and it was the act of a woman trying to manipulate her. It was not cute. It wasn’t. At all.  
  
“No,” Jamie declared.  
  
“And why not?” Melina asked in the tiniest voice Jamie had ever heard.  
  
“Because as comfortable as you are with getting in front of crowds of people, I very much am not,” Jamie insisted.  
  
“But it’s not crowds,” Melina said, sitting up from the bed so quickly that it made Jamie’s head spin. “We already agreed that it would be only the most important people. No strangers, no one who would judge you. Besides it’s traditional,” Melina said, her voice running so fast Jamie could only just barely make out the words.  
  
“None of this is traditional,” Jamie reasoned, somehow already knowing that this was an argument she was going to lose.  
  
“It would mean a lot to me. Please?” Melina asked again, and this time Jamie was sure it wasn’t her imagination that Melina was slipping slightly into a baby voice. And again, may she remind you, it was not cute. It wasn’t. It was manipulative, it was devious, it was calculated, it was-  
  
“Fine,” Jamie admitted defeat. Before she could say another word, Melina had sprung up from the bed and wrapped her arms around her. The shock of the surprise attack combined with the fact that Jamie’s legs were already bent from planning on sitting down forced the two girls backwards and they collapsed into a heap onto the bed.  
  
Melina didn’t bother removing herself, and instead maneuvered her legs so that they were wrapped around Jamie as well, looking not unsimilar to an octopus trapping its victims.  
  
“I already chose a song,” Melina hummed happily.  
  
“Of course you did,” Jamie said, leaning back to allow Melina’s legs better access around her waist.  
  
  
And that’s how Jamie found herself, against all of her good judgement, clutching Melina’s arm desperately as she walked to the center of the room, about to take her first wedding dance in front of about thirty people.  
  
Regina, Brianna and Jane had already moved themselves to the back of the room, Brianna and Jane towards their instruments of choice and Regina towards the microphone. Jamie still had no idea what song they were going to choose but seeing the band together without Melina was a bit odd.  
  
She took a look out at the mass of people and felt a strange sense of calm run over her. She was distinctly aware of Melina’s hand in her own, and almost nothing else. They stopped moving, and Jamie shifted her spare hand to Melina’s back as Melina put hers on Jamie’s shoulder.  
  
Jamie took a small breath and looked into Melina’s eyes.  
  
“Thank you,” Melina whispered, and if Jamie had any reservations before, they all seemed to melt away. She was here, with her love, who was radiating so brightly it almost hurt to look at her. Jamie was struck with the overwhelming realization that she would do anything for her if it would make her this happy.  
  
Melina broke the eye contact to nod at Regina, who then turned to nod at Brianna and Jane, who began softly playing. It took a few chords for Jamie to recognize what song was being played. The version being played was much slower than the original, but it worked.  
  
_“I give her all my love, that's all I do/And if you saw my love, you'd love her, too/I love her”_  
  
Regina’s voice was distinctly different from Melina’s. She sang in a much higher pitch, with much raspier vocals. But she was still good, and Jamie let her eyes fall closed for a moment to let herself listen to the words.  
  
_“She gives me everything and tenderly the kiss my lover brings, she brings to me and I love her”_  
  
Jamie felt lighter than anything, as if no one else or nothing else mattered, as if she could do anything. She idly wondered to herself if this was what Melina felt when she walked out onstage every night and she suddenly understood why her wife (her wife!) was so addicted. She found that she could barely feel her feet moving as the two of them swayed together. Getting so worked up over dancing earlier seemed so ridiculous, especially because it clearly made Melina so happy.  
  
_“A love like ours could never die as long as I have you near me/Bright are the stars that shine, dark is the sky/I know this love of mine will never die/And I love her”_  
  
There was just something in the way Regina’s delivered the lyrics. Perhaps it was because Jamie knew who was singing personally, or perhaps it was something else entirely. But Jamie let her chin rest on Melina’s shoulder and allowed herself to be flooded with the realization that she was married. She was committed to someone in a way she never thought would be possible for her. She wouldn’t let herself fall apart now, not with everybody watching. But she knew the second she was alone that she was going to burst.  
  
_“Bright are the stars that shine, dark is the sky/I know this love of mine will never die and I love her”_  
  
The song ended to rapturous applause, and the other members of King took a quick bow. As everyone turned to look at the trio, Melina placed a quick kiss to Jamie’s forehead.  
  
“I don’t know how I got so lucky,” Jamie whispered in a daze, more to herself than to Melina.  
  
“That’s supposed to be my line,” Melina responded with a wink.  
  
The band had removed their instruments from the room as a song began blasting over the speakers. The music changed to a bunch more upbeat song, as the guests began swarming the dance floor. As well-wishers began flooding back in, Melina and Jamie found that they still could not let go of one another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> got a request for their first wedding dance, hope you liked it!! 
> 
> Fun fact: in my original draft of HAIHNB, all of the song titles were going to come from Mitski lyrics (bc I fckin love Mitski, shes the only musician I care about at the same level as I do Freddie/Queen) but then I realized, if I’m gonna write that particular story, I should use Freddie’s own words so I changed it. But I’ve made the decision to use Mitski lyrics for TNIHBLF bc not giving them titles feels weird to me.


	9. i'd never learned; god's very simple and love shouldn't burn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jamie finally gets an explanation for something she'd been wondering about for a while

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> General Chapter Warning: This chapter mentions domestic abuse throughout the story. Nothing is going to be shown, but it is what the chapter is centered on. If you think this is going to upset you, I would recommend maybe waiting until the next chapter. Thank you!

“Regina, can I ask you something?” Jamie called out, trying to stop her before she got in the car with her boyfriend and drove off. Regina had seemed tired after their show was done, and expressed an eagerness to get the hell out of the venue.  
  
“Sure?” Regina asked in confusion, both her and Dom staring at her with concern. Jamie and Regina both liked each other, but neither of them tended to talk to one another when Melina was not around. And even then, Jamie never seemed to be the one to initiate the conversation.  
  
“Who is Jill Reid?” Jamie asked, and her suspicion was proven correct when Regina and Dom both tensed for a moment, and tried to subtly eye each other without getting caught.  
  
“I don’t know, Jamie, if Melina didn’t tell you, it’s not my business to. She clearly is done with that point of her life,” Regina said uneasily, her eyes shifting back and forth between Jamie and the exit.  
  
“Why do you want to know?” Dom asked.  
  
“Because she called Melina yesterday morning an-”  
  
“What?” Regina cried out in alarm.  
  
“Who is she?” Jamie insisted. “I just need to know that she’s not in danger.”  
  
Regina and Dom looked at each other for a long moment, clearly having some kind of silent conversation between the two of them.  
  
“Listen, Melina is probably wondering where you are,” Dom said. “If she ever comes up again, I’ll tell you. But I think we’re all better off hoping this was just a freak one-off.”  
  
Regina gave Jamie a sad smile and a half-hearted wave before walking out the back exit.  
  


“Hello, this is Dominick Beyrand, may I ask who is speaking?”  
  
“Hey, this is Jamie. Jamie Hutton. You told me you’d tell me who Jill Reid was if she ever came up again. Well, she… she tried to come by the house and Melina threw an absolute fit. Jill didn’t get anywhere near the inside but Melina’s been catatonic all day and I just really need some answers.”  
  
There was a long moment where no one spoke.  
  
Dom let out a loud sigh.  
  
“If you find the time to come over today, I think it’s better if I explain in person.”  
  


And so Jamie, now scared out of her mind, not that she would admit that to anyone else, made the tense drive over to the Taylor residence.  
  
She knocked on the door, and Regina greeted her, giving her the same sad smile she had just a few days prior. She invited Jamie out back and offered to get her some tea, but Jamie wasn’t sure her stomach could take anything at this point.  
  
“First,” Regina said, sitting on a lawn chair with one leg crossed over her lap, “I want to know more about what you said to Dom this morning. How do you know it was Jill, and is Melina okay?”  
  
“I know it was her because the first thing Melina shouted as soon as she picked up the phone was, ‘I don’t care, Jill, I want you to get the fuck away from my house.’” Jamie said, no hint of humor in her expression.  
  
Dom came through the back door, two glasses of tea for him and Regina. Regina thanked him, but did not even look at the saucer as it was placed in front of her.  
“It sounds like she really did come by,” Regina told Dom, who looked grim, and Jamie just really wanted some fucking answers at this point.  
  
“Melina and Jill used to date,” Dom explained, seeing something in Jamie’s expression that seemed to indicate just how unhappy she was with the lack of explanations she was getting. “A few years back.”  
  
“Listen, you don’t need to know all the nitty-gritty details. All you need to know is that Jill was an abusive fuck who didn’t deserve the right to touch a hair on Melina’s head, let alone throw things at her and fucking bite a chunk of her flesh off,” Regina ranted.  
  
“Excuse me, what the fuck?” Jamie asked in horror.  
  
“Slight exaggeration,” Dom amended.  
  
“No exaggeration,” Regina argued. “Anyone who’s fucking psychotic enough to try to bite someone’s hand off when they’re pissed doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt.”  
  
Jamie’s eyes were wide as she tried to wrap her head around what she just heard. It didn’t take long before her bewilderment turned into pure anger. Melina and her had gotten into more arguments than she could count, but the idea of ever trying to physically hurt Melina in any way made her feel physically ill.  
  
She wasn’t surprised that Melina had never told her about this, she was always more focused on the present and the future than anything in the past, but it made Jamie feel sick that she had gone through any of that.  
  
She took a deep breath to steady herself as Regina and Dom monitored her expression closely.  
  
“And so this woman bit Melina and got thrown out and now suddenly all these years later she thinks she can waltz back into Melina’s life and everything will be fine?” Jamie asked, just to make sure she understood the situation as clearly as she could.  
  
“Oh no,” Regina said, bitterly. “Melina didn’t throw her out after it happened,” she shook her head.  
  
“Excuse me?” Jamie said, not sure why Melina was still able to shock her at this point.  
  
“They kept dating for a while after that,” Dom clarified.  
  
Jamie loved Melina; she really did. She loved that woman more than she thought was ever possible, and she couldn’t count the amount of times she woke up, amazed at how lucky she was to have found the love of her life. That being said, if Melina had ever decided to bite her during an argument, she wouldn’t think twice about getting the hell out of there. No questions asked.  
  
“She did it in front of a group of people, too,” Regina said, her voice strangled, as if she was trying very hard to hold back exactly what she was feeling. “In a room full of people, people who care about Melina, she did that. Every time I think about what she must have been like when no one was…” she cut herself off. “Sorry, I just. I can’t talk about this without feeling furious at myself.”  
  
“Yourself?” Jamie repeated, her brain swimming. “What does this have to do with you? You didn’t do anything.”  
  
“Exactly,” Regina shouted, and Jamie could tell from the look on Dom’s face that they had had this conversation before. “Melina is supposed to be my friend. My best friend. And I sat on my ass and watched as someone hurt her.”  
  
Regina’s voice broke on the last two words. She seemed horrified at herself, and balled her hands into fists as she looked off into the distance.  
  
Jamie had a brief flashback to when she had really talked to Regina for the first time. How Regina drove halfway across the city just to find Jamie and intimidate her, even if it didn’t really work. To make sure that Melina was with someone who cared about her. Everything about that night seemed to make more sense with this new piece of information, and Jamie’s blood ran cold.  
  
“So what finally got her to leave?” Jamie asked, her voice quiet.  
  
“They had gotten into an argument,” Regina said. “I never found out about what and I didn’t bother to ask. Anyways, Melina’s voice was torn up to shit and let’s just say she wasn’t able to deliver the type of performance that was up to her standard. They split up pretty soon afterwards,” Regina said with a tiny vindictive smile.  
  
“Melina will let someone beat the shit out of her but God help you if you mess with her throat,” Dom commented, and the two women looked at him with unease, but neither of them could find anything mistaken about what he was saying.  
  


“Darling, where were you?” Melina cried as soon as Jamie stepped through the front door, wrapping her arms tightly around Jamie’s shoulders. “I’ve been so worried. Pete didn’t know where you were either. I didn’t know who to call,” Melina ranted, not letting go.  
  
“Hey, Melina, I’m fine,” Jamie soothed, rubbing comforting circles into Melina’s back for a moment before pulling her arms away to look her in the eyes. “I’m okay but are you alright?”  
  
Melina’s shoulders sagged.  
  
“I’m being ridiculous. You didn’t do anything wrong, I’m not your keeper. I’ve just been,” she stopped herself and let out a growl. “It’s just been a day. Let’s leave it at that.”  
  
“Okay,” Jamie agreed. “You don’t want to talk about it?” She guessed.  
  
“No,” Melina confirmed. “It’s over and done with. I’m moving on from it now.”  
  
Jamie nodded at her, and let Melina take her arm to drag her into the living room. The two ended up laying across the couch, with Melina’s legs draped across Jamie’s body, Jamie rubbing her feet.  
  
“You know I love you, right?” Jamie asked.  
  
“Well, I would sure hope so,” Melina tried to joke, flashing her ring, but Jamie could see that her eyes were shining enough to know that Melina was genuinely delighted to hear the words.  
  
“And you know it’s not because you’re famous or you’re rich or because you buy me nice things or any of that. It’s because I love you,” Jamie insisted. “And you deserve to have someone to love you.”  
  
“Where is this coming from?” Melina asked, her eyes narrowing. “You’re never one to get sentimental on me,” she accused.  
  
“I just thought it needed to be said,” Jamie defended. “Because I’m serious.”  
  
“I know you are,” Melina reassured. “And you know that I love you too, and that you’re the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time, yes?”  
  
“I maybe doubt that second part a little bit but yes,” Jamie laughed.  
  
“Don’t,” Melina said, seriously. “Don’t doubt it,” she said as she sat up, retracting her legs so that she could sit on them to reach Jamie’s eyeline. “You are so good to me,” she said.  
  
Jamie felt her stomach clench up. She tried to think of some way to make Melina see that Jamie wasn’t being good to her just by being a decent person. That not hitting Melina didn’t make Jamie some kind of saint, it just made her normal.  
  
But she didn’t say anything.  
  
Instead, she just gave Melina a sad little smile as she leaned in to kiss her on the forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was……… sad 
> 
> I went back and forth on writing this because I sort of implied that Jamie was Melina’s first relationship with a woman in HAIHNB, and this sort of goes against that implication. But the general idea I’m working with is that Melina had had casual relationships in the past, but she had never really felt anything serious for them. 
> 
> I’ve noticed that Freddie tended to have a lot of relationships back to back because he seemed to be more in love with the idea of being in love rather than in love with the actual men themselves. (Not for all of his relationships, I do think he genuinely loved David Minns, for instance) 
> 
> I don’t know that Freddie ever actually loved Bill Reid or, if what I tended to hear over and over again is true, Freddie was just very afraid of being alone, and thought being in a messy relationship was better than not being in a relationship at all.


	10. we keep it secret, wont let them have it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jamie's sister comes to town. Jamie's very religious sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this started as one story and quickly took a life of its own and became something very different? Idk but I hope you like it!  
> Chapter Warning: mentions of homophobia, nothing too extreme

“Okay, so can you repeat everything I just told you back to me?” Jamie asked, her hands pressed together.

“Honey, it’s going to be fine, I understood,” Melina reassured.

“It would just really make me feel better if I knew we were on the same page,” Jamie pleaded.

“Okay,” Melina nodded. “Your sister is visiting for the weekend. You know from past experience that she is homophobic, and so you never told her about yourself. Or, obviously, about us. We’re going to go with the lie that you’re my gardener, and we’re going to move all of your stuff into the guest room. I’m going to try to stay out of your way until she leaves, but when I do see her, I will act like the most pretentious illusive version of myself, to give the impression that we are not that close. Did I get everything?” Melina asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes,” Jamie said, exhaling more air than she knew she was holding in. “Yes, that’s it. Thank you.”

“Of course,” Melina reassured. “And I’ll be taking that,” she said, gently removing the wedding band from Jamie’s finger. They both looked down at the faint tan lines that had formed underneath, and hoped that Aileen wouldn’t notice.

 

Aileen’s introduction to Garden Lodge ran smoothly, all things considered. She had looked at the house in awe, as many tended to do, but not with any level of surprise. Melina Mercury was still a rock star, after all.

She had seemed almost nervous as she walked through each of the rooms that Jamie took her through. Jamie had learned over the past couple of months just how much of a fan Aileen was of King’s music. She gave her sister the benefit of the doubt. She figured that if she was meeting someone so famous, her palms might be getting a bit sweaty as well.

Melina, as promised, was nowhere to be seen for most of the day. Something that confused Jamie quite a bit, considering the fact that she was pretty sure she had not seen Melina leave the house at any point, and Jamie had taken her sister on a tour through most of it.

“I can’t believe you work for Melina Mercury,” Aileen whispered for what must have been the twelfth time.

“Did I hear my name?” Jamie heard a voice from the entrance to the room, and Melina walked through. She was wearing a lovely looking sundress and topped the look off with a shawl and a floppy sunhat. She was dressed exactly the way Jamie would have pictured a stereotypical opera diva in her head.

Aileen stared at Melina for a long moment, her eyes wide and her mouth open, but no noise coming out. Jamie nudged her forwards a bit, into Melina’s extended arm.

“You must be Jamie’s sister,” Melina said pleasantly. It was only because Jamie had known Melina for so long that she could tell just how amused she was by Aileen shaking her hand for far too long to be appropriate. To anyone else, her face remained respectfully blank.

“Yes, I am. I’m Aileen,” she said, finally letting go. “I have to say; it is an honor to meet you in person. I’ve been listening to your music for years. Thank you for letting me into your beautiful home. And thank you for letting my sister work here,” Aileen rambled on, her hands flying around now that she didn’t have Melina’s arm to latch onto. “And thank you for singing at my wedding,” she added after a moment.

“Of course, it was no trouble. I’m glad to hear that you’re a fan of my work,” Melina said with a smile. Jamie felt so jarred listening to Melina talk so agreeably and benign.

Melina turned to examine one of her paintings on the wall, and Aileen turned to Jamie, mouthing words of awe. Jamie was glad to see her sister so excited about something. It seemed like things were working out.

And in walked Mark Austin with his five-year old little girl. Jamie and Melina turned to each other with horror in their eyes. Without a word, Melina surged forwards.

“Darling, you’re home,” she cried, enveloping him in a hug. He reciprocated with his free arm that wasn’t holding his daughters’ hand, and when they broke apart from one another she could sense the confusion radiating from his whole body. “Do you remember how our gardener mentioned that her sister would be visiting for the weekend? She’s a Catholic school teacher back in Ireland. The two really are strong followers in the word of the Lord,” she said, hoping Mark would catch onto what she was implying. She let out a soft breath as she saw his eyes light up with understanding.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Hutton,” Mark said, walking over to shake her hand. “My name is Mark,” he told her.

“Well then, I insist that you call me Aileen,” she said, reciprocating the handshake. “And who’s this little angel?” she asked, bending down to get a closer look at the shy girl clinging to her father’s hand.

“This is Rachel,” Mark told her after his daughter curled into his arms, too shy to look at the stranger trying to talk to her. “She’s… she’s our daughter,” Mark said, suddenly. All three pairs of eyes snapped to him, different emotions reading on each of their faces, but all of them confused.

“Oh,” Aileen said with wide eyes, turning to Melina. “I’m sorry, I hadn’t realized before that you were married. Or that you had children. But I’m not surprised,” she said, her eyes widening in panic when she realized she might have offended them. “I mean, you’re so talented and beautiful. Isn’t that right, Jamie?” Aileen said, hoping to deflect the conversation onto someone else.

“Yeah, she is,” Jamie said, quietly, making quick eye contact with Melina, who smiled.

“Yes,” Melina said, knowing that she couldn’t correct Mark now and deciding to just roll with it. “We got married a few years ago, but we thought it was such an important thing to us personally that we kept it a secret from the press. We especially didn’t want her growing up in the limelight, that’s too much pressure for a young girl. Especially one as shy as her,” Melina rambled on, hoping that she wasn’t giving a suspicious amount of detail.  

“Well I think that’s lovely,” Aileen said, finally standing back up. “Now, all I need to do as an older sister is help Jamie here find that same kind of love and I’ll have done my job,” she continued, elbowing Jamie lightly in the ribs.

Melina and Jamie both just laughed quietly at that.

“You never know, her soulmate might be closer than you think,” Melina said.

“That’s the spirit,” Aileen said with a grin. “Jamie never seemed interested in dating when she was younger. But she’s so pretty, don’t you think? Any man would be lucky to have her,” she rambled on.

Melina made a tiny noise in the back of her throat that only Mark was close enough to hear. She couldn’t tell exactly what Jamie was thinking, as said woman was staring intently at the floor and didn’t seem to want to look up anytime soon.

“Well I’m sorry to bother you,” Aileen said. “I’m sure you’re very busy and don’t like standing around answering questions. I’ll leave you two alone,” she said, with a quick wave between Melina and Mark. “Ready to go?” She asked Jamie, who nodded but still did not look up.

“It was no trouble,” Melina assured as the two left the room. She counted down to ten before turning to face Mark. “I am so sorry,” she told him. “I needed to make sure you understood and it was the first story that came to my head. Thank you for going with it.”  

“It’s fine, Melina,” Mark cut her off. “Though I don’t know how she thought Rachel was yours,” he said. And it was true, Rachel had pale skin with freckles and light blonde hair and green eyes like her father. There was nothing in her face that resembled Melina in the slightest.

“You know, if she asks, we could just say that I was too much of a diva to ruin my body and had someone else give birth?” she suggested. “Oh no, then she’d probably say I was squandering God’s intention for me or something. Let’s just say I can’t have kids,” Melina said. “She won’t try to ask anymore about that, too sensitive.”

“How in the world is that woman a fan of your band if she’s _that_ religious?” Mark asked. “She doesn’t seem like the type to enjoy women running around in little to no clothing and singing about sinning and sex and all that,” he said and then suddenly looked down in panic when he realized that Rachel was looking up and listening to him.

“What’s sex?” She asked, innocently.

Melina had to bite her cheek to stop herself from laughing. Mark looked up at her for help, but she just raised her eyebrow and looked back at Rachel, indicating that she clearly wanted an answer.

“It’s a… it’s a boring thing that grown-ups do. Nothing you want to worry about,” Mark said, quickly. “Not until you’re older. Much older.”

“I was fourteen,” Melina supplied, knowing that that would seem like ages away for a five-year-old, and also that it would freak out the father of said five-year-old, knowing that to him it would feel like no time at all. It did also happen to be the truth.

“And you’re not doing it until you’re twenty,” Mark told his daughter. “Five. Twenty-five. At the least,” Mark said as Melina dissolved into a fit of giggles.

“Anyways, you’d be surprised the people who say they’re King fans. Some people have only heard We Are the Champions and We Will Rock You and think we just write sports anthems. People are very selective about what they want to believe,” Melina said. “They’re very good at not seeing what they don’t want to see.”

 

Dinner that night was a highly awkward affair.

Melina, unsure of how much she was supposed to personally know about a hired gardener, decided to stay quiet for most of the meal. Pete excused herself ten minutes in with the excuse of needing to do work, but Melina, being her employer, knew that was a total lie. She let her get away with it anyways. Aileen, unaware of any tension and finally haven gotten over her nerves, happily chatted enough for the three of them.

“So where’s Mark tonight?” Aileen asked.

“My husband is one of the people who works in finances for my business, and he often works many late hours, not coming home until it’s dark,” Melina answered, the words running out of her mouth so smoothly that Jamie wasn’t sure that she would be able to tell that Melina wasn’t telling the whole truth if she didn’t know otherwise.

“That’s too bad. He seemed nice,” Aileen commented, before returning to her food and the table falling silent again. Jamie, having grown up around Aileen, could tell that she was anxious to ask about Melina’s daughter as well, and was just barely restraining herself from doing so. “Actually, I need to use the bathroom real quick.”

“Just upstairs, the second door on the left,” Melina told her. Aileen nodded gratefully and placed her napkin on the table before rushing out of the room.

 

When Aileen returned from the bathroom, just as she was about to walk through the doorway, she stopped herself. Inside, she could hear her sister and Melina chattering away with one another, as if they were old friends. This was surprising, seeing as the two barely spoke to one another every other time they were in the same room together.

She pressed herself against the wall next to the door and leaned in closely, curiosity getting the better of her.

“But you’re handling all of it well,” Jamie said.

“Well, I spend a lot of my life dodging questions I don’t want to answer,” Melina argued. “It comes with the job.”

“That’s fair,” Jamie conceded. “But you don’t think she knows?”

“Well, you know her better, but not that I could tell,” Melina said.

Aileen felt her heart begin to race, though she had no idea why. What didn’t she know?

She tried to calm herself down, for all she knew they could have been discussing a completely different person, it didn’t necessarily mean her. But still…

“And you’re absolutely sure you don’t want to tell her?” Melina asked, her voice going very gentle. Aileen got the strong sense that these two actually did get along quite well. The voice Melina was using didn’t seem to be one used on employees.

“The way I see it, she either gets mad about me ‘living in sin’ or she gets mad about not being invited to the wedding,” Jamie explained.

Aileen stopped for a moment to try to ponder those words. Living in sin and weddings didn’t seem to go together. Quite the opposite, in fact. One would think that if her sister was married, she wouldn’t be living in sin. That was how it works.

Also, did her sister get married and not tell her?

“Well if it’s the latter then I’m sure she would understand your hesitation,” Melina said. “It’s not exactly something that many people try to advertise to the world.”

“Alright, what are you two hiding from me?” Aileen demanded, storming back into the room. Both Jamie and Melina’s eyes turned to her in horror.

Jamie began to stutter and looked over at Melina for help, but she seemed at a loss for words, as well. The sight was so odd that Aileen laughed at the idea that she ever saw Melina Mercury as anything other than a normal woman. She was just as human as the rest of them.

The two seemed to have a short conversation with their eyes for a long moment before Jamie sighed and turned to her sister.

“Okay,” Jamie said. “I haven’t been honest with you for most of this trip,” she admitted. Melina’s eyes widened further, surprised that Jamie was going to admit whatever it was that she knew.

Aileen folded her arms together, and raised her eyebrow.

“Funnily enough, I kind of got the sense of that already,” Aileen said, slipping into her big sister/teacher’s voice.

“It is true that I do live with Melina, and I do work for her in the gardens,” Jamie began, but stopped herself, taking a long breath.

“Do you want me to do it?” Melina asked, taking Jamie’s arm into her hands.

“No,” Jamie said. “It should be me,” she told her before turning back to face Aileen. “Melina did get married in secret but it wasn’t to Mark,” Jamie said, looking directly at her sister when she said it. Aileen wasn’t sure that she had blinked for the past half-minute.

“Then who did she get married to?” Aileen asked, feeling like she was missing something important.

“Me,” Jamie said, her voice choking on the word, raising her finger to show the tan-line that had formed where the ring usually sat.

Aileen felt like her whole world was collapsing in on herself, her brain trying to replay the last twenty-four hours in her head with this new piece of information.

Okay, she told herself. Let’s break this down.

Her baby sister was in a relationship and never told her. Her baby sister was in a relationship with a woman. Her baby sister was in a relationship with _Melina Mercury_. Melina Mercury was in a relationship with a woman. With her _baby sister_.

Her baby sister was… the words wouldn’t come.

When her eyes finally refocused on what was in front of her, she saw Melina eyeing her with worry, a chair in her hands, seeming to think that Aileen was going to collapse and trying to catch her before she did. Jamie was looking at the wall across the room.

“Did you do this to her?” Aileen asked Melina, her words quiet.

“I was in a relationship with a woman for a year before I even met Melina. Do not blame this on her,” Jamie said, her voice unsure before but suddenly very hard. “No one did this to me, it just happened.”

“I mean,” Aileen’s voice suddenly grew frantic. “What do you want me to say, Jamie? It’s not a marriage. You two aren’t married. You can live in sin, and I can’t stop you. But you’re not married in the eyes of the court and you’re not married in the eyes of God.”

“Okay,” Jamie said, her voice sounding defeated, as if all the fight had left her. “We wear rings as a sign that we committed to each other, that was the most important thing. It was for us,” Jamie said. “Because we love each other as much as any man and woman could love each other. Regardless of who says otherwise.”

“I’m not even that mad about the… the sinning part,” Aileen cried, throwing her hands into the air. “I just wish you would have told me before instead of leaving me to find this out right now.”

“So you could have tried to stop me?” Jamie challenged.

“Yes!” Aileen shouted. “No,” she corrected. “No, it’s just. We’re family, Jamie. We’re always going to be family no matter what choices you make. I don’t have to agree with yours and you don’t have to agree with mine, but we should stick together. That is what a family is for.”

“Aileen, you just shouted in my face that the love between Melina and I wasn’t legitimate, I don’t know what you want from me,” Jamie said.

“I just want… time,” Aileen admitted. “I need to think about all this before I try to have a rational conversation with you. I’m sorry you had to see all of this,” she turned to Melina, who was watching everything solemnly.

“This is nothing compared to how my parents reacted when they found out,” Melina said, which confused the hell out of Jamie, who knew for a fact that Melina was still hiding her relationship from them. “It’s strange. I think you’re right to take time, I went through a long grieving process when I first realized, I can’t fault you for the same,” she said, shockingly open. “The gardens out back are perfect for anyone who wants to be left alone for a moment,” she offered.

Aileen nodded at her, and left the dinner table.

“That could have gone better,” Melina said into the silence.

“Don’t,” Jamie warned, putting her head into her hands.

 

“Do you think you’re ready to talk it out?” Aileen heard Melina ask as she stepped cautiously through the back door. “Or are you still angry?”

“I am angry,” Aileen admitted. “But it’s more… I just keep thinking about how every Sunday when Jamie was little, we would go to Church. And they always preached about how homosexuals were sinners and pedophiles and going to burn in Hell for eternity. And I just can’t stop thinking about what that must have been like. To be so young, and to feel so hated,” she shook her head. “I’m angry,” she began again, “because I feel sick at the idea that someone would try to hurt my baby sister like that,” Aileen said, her voice just barely a whisper.

Melina didn’t say anything to that, and took a seat next to her on the garden swing.

“How did your family react, when you told them?” Aileen asked, quietly. It was strange, just a few hours ago she was afraid to even directly look at the woman now sitting next to her, and now she was spilling her heart out as if they had known each other for years.

“I went to boarding school when I was younger,” Melina said, taking a deep breath as if she were steeling herself to have this conversation. “I had started a relationship with another girl, we were young and it didn’t mean much but we got caught. It was illegal, so I was kicked out and sent back home to my parents. There was… a lot of shame,” Melina said, shaking her head. “We all just like to pretend it never happened. I lie to them and tell them I’m with a man and they pretend to believe me.”

“I’m sorry,” Aileen said, though she wasn’t sure which part she was expressing sympathy for. Maybe all of it.

“Not your fault, I’m the one that brought it up,” Melina said, patting her on the knee.

“I should go in and apologize,” Aileen said.

“Probably,” Melina agreed.

“I still don’t think it’s a marriage,” Aileen admitted.

“You don’t have to,” Melina said. “Just know that I love your sister. And the two of us are going to live the exact same marriage vows that anyone else makes. For better or for worse, for rich or for poor, in sickness and in health. Til death do us part.”

“And that’s probably all that really matters in the end,” Aileen admitted. “I guess you finally found that somebody to love, huh?” Aileen said, regretting the joke as soon as she made it.

“I did,” Melina said, her voice serious even as her mouth upturned just a little.  


	11. my heart wants to hold you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> melina’s away for tour, and jamie begins to appreciate just how big garden lodge is when there’s no other humans inside

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter warnings: multiple mentions of alcohol throughout the chapter

As much as Jamie loved Melina, she was fairly certain she would have gone insane if she had tried to live the same touring lifestyle for months on end the way her wife did. So when King went out on their near-annual tour world tours, Jamie sometimes found herself alone in the large house, with only the cats to keep her company. And truth be told, they were much better conversationalists than some people she knew, but she could only take a few days in isolation before going a little stir-crazy.

She usually tried to make plans to go home and visit family, or even just stay over at a friend’s house around town, but this time around nothing seemed to come through.

It was impossible to feel completely neglected, however, when Melina insisted that they talk on the phone at least every other day. Jamie wouldn’t admit it, but she secretly treasured these phone conversations more than she thought she should. Whoever said that absence made the heart grow fonder was really onto something, as every time Jamie heard her wife, it was as if her body began to physically ache to be near her.

So she would be the first to admit to being the slightest bit put out when she rang the hotel room and heard Brianna May pick up the phone instead.

“Hello?” Brianna’s voice answered; a bit raspier than usual.

“Oh. Hello. This is Jamie,” Jamie said. “Jamie Hutton,” she clarified. “I thought this was Melina’s room, I guess I must have been wrong,” Jamie said, her face twisting into a frown.

“Oh no, this is Mel’s room,” Brianna reassured. “She’s just a bit… legless at the moment. The whole band is, really. She invited us all to celebrate a good show, and well, one thing led to another. I was just voted the one sober enough to pick up the phone.”

Jamie breathed a sigh of relief.

“I get it,” Jamie said, pausing a few seconds and waiting for Brianna to say that she was going to pass the phone over to Melina any moment now. 

“Is something wrong?” Brianna asked, her voice sounding as concerned as Jamie was just moments ago. “There’s no emergency, right?”

“Nope, nothing’s wrong,” Jamie hurried to reassure, her voice stuttering a bit.  

“Oh, then. I’m sorry you called at an inconvenient moment, I’m sure she’ll call you back in the morning when she’s sufficiently regretted her decisions,” Brianna said, her voice getting farther away as if she were removing the phone from her ear to hang up.

“Wait,” Jamie cried out. “Can I please just speak to Melina?” She asked, wondering why this had to be so difficult.

“But you said you didn’t need anything, that nothing was wrong?” Brianna asked, confused, and it occurred to Jamie that the other woman maybe wasn’t as sober as she was pretending to be.

“I just. I miss her okay,” Jamie admitted, her face flushing. “And a drunk Melina is better than no Melina.”

“I’ll be sure to tell her you said that,” Brianna said. “Mel, your wife’s on the phone,” Jamie heard her cry out across the room. “I need to warn you,” Brianna said, pulling the phone back to her ear. “She’s thoroughly out of it. She spent a minute straight just letting us know that you had a pair of banging tits. Her words, not mine,” Brianna said.

And if Jamie’s face was red before, it was sure to be a bright scarlet.

“I’m going to ignore how uncomfortable that is, and just focus on the compliment,” Jamie decided.

“And that’s why you and Mel are such a good match for one another,” Brianna laughed. “And here she is. See you,” she said.

“Jamie?” Melina asked into the phone.

“Hey,” Jamie greeted, a grin growing on her face despite herself. “Brianna said you’ve been drinking a bit. Having fun?”

“Of course. But you know I’d be having more fun if you were here,” Melina insisted.

“I’m flying up next week,” Jamie reminded her.

“But if you got on a plane right now, then you could be here by morning. And we could have sex,” Melina declared, as if she were making an undebatable point. 

Jamie was sure that if the rest of the band was still in the room like Brianna said, they could definitely hear Melina, as she was taking no precaution to lower her voice. But if they had already heard Melina’s rant about her _banging tits_ , she supposed this couldn’t be much worse than that.

“Y’know, I’m beginning to think you only love me for my body,” Jamie joked.

“Never,” Melina gasped. “Now can you do me a favor? Can you put one of the cats on the phone, doesn’t matter who, I just want to hear one of them. I miss my children.”

“I’ve already had Miko corralled in here for the entire call,” Jamie said, nudging him lightly in the side in order to make him meow.

“This is why you’re my wife,” Melina told her seriously. “Hello darling,” she said to the cat. “How have you been? Has Jamie been treating you fairly? I miss you,” she said, talking to Miko the same way Jamie has heard countless mothers speaking to their newborns. She grinned to herself, and let her wife have her moment with the feline. “It’s good to hear you, but can you put your mother back on the phone? I want to speak to her some more.”

Jamie finally let the flailing cat drop from the bed and scurry off.

“Just out of curiosity, how many did you have?” Jamie asked.

The silence that followed was not the most reassuring sound in the world.

“Well, I had one during the show, like I usually do,” Melina said, her voice straining as if it were a genuinely difficult thought. “And then another after the show, and then… Regina passed me… something. And I had… some of it,” Melina said, her voice full of pride as if she had given a helpful answer. 

“So you’re definitely drunk,” Jamie said in amusement.

“I am!” Melina cheered, and Jamie could guess from experience that she had thrown her arms into the air in celebration, even if she couldn’t see it.

“Well, I’ll let you get back to your fun,” Jamie said softly.

“Too late, Jane’s already passed out on my bed,” Melina laughed quietly. “And… wait. Regina, where the fuck did Brianna go?” She heard Melina shout from across the room. “What do you mean you don’t know? She didn’t leave out the front door. Oh my god. I don’t know where Brianna went,” Melina said back into the phone.

“I can’t help you with that,” Jamie said, confused.

“I need to go and find her,” Melina declared. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Melina,” Jamie said softly into the phone. “I’ll see you soon. I miss you.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end, before the dial tone ran out, and Jamie assumed that Melina must have accidentally hung up before she was done talking.

 

About two hours later, as Jamie was flicking through channels but finding nothing worth watching, the phone rang again.

“Hello?” Jamie said, her greeting sounding more like a question as she wondered who would be calling the house so late at night.

“We found Brianna,” Melina told her.

“That’s good,” Jamie said, though she wasn’t sure why Melina called to tell her this. “Where was she?”

“She fell asleep in the bathtub,” Melina explained, and Jamie had to stifle herself from laughing at the confused tone in Melina's voice.

“And it took you this long to find her?” Jamie questioned.

“It took that long to find her, and then wake her up and drag her back to her own hotel room,” Melina corrected. “That woman is an utter bitch when she’s drunk and tired.” Anyone else would have said those words and sounded like they were bitter. Melina just delivered them with the utmost fondness.

“Aren’t we all?” Jamie joked.

Another silence fell.

“I miss you too,” Melina said, softly after a long moment. “I’ll see you next week. I love you.”

“Love you too,” Jamie whispered before she heard the dial tone again.

She stood holding the phone for a moment, before placing it gently down and walking off to find one of the cats. She couldn’t be with Melina tonight, but she knew that one of the kittens would make her feel just a little bit closer to her when she went to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as with last time, I wasn't sure where this story was going to go. I started writing it and it took a mind of it's own and went a completely different direction. Hope you enjoy, and that y'all are having a good day.


	12. i found the door but when I stepped through there was no floor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark Austin has a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad weekend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warning: this chapter starts off with a bit of non-consensual voyeurism (which means mentions of sex, though nothing TOO explicit) and mentions of homophobia.
> 
> Also, I didn't realize how much swearing was in this until I reread it before posting lmao

Looking back on it, Mark should have called before coming over. And when he did come over and knock but no one answered, he should have come back later. And when he made the decision to come in anyways, he should have at least called out to let anyone inside know he was coming in.

But he did none of these things as he silently walked up the staircase, assuming Melina would be in her bedroom. As he inched forwards, he could hear gasps ringing out. He ran forwards, thinking that someone could be in pain.

“God I love you so fucking much,” Melina choked out.

“Jesus Christ, how are you this wet already?” Jamie returned.

Oh.

OH.

And just as many bad choices let Mark to this very moment, instead of walking back downstairs and coming back at some other time, Mark remained frozen in his spot.

The two went quiet, save for Melina’s occasional whimper. Soon enough, Melina began to make more and more noise, growing louder with each passing second. As horrible as it was, the sounds were going straight to Mark’s cock. He couldn’t help it. Melina used to be his girlfriend, he used to be the one to guide those noises out of her. It was practically a Pavlonian response.

He stood outside of the door, his breath catching in his throat. Eventually, Melina’s moans reached a climax (literally) and she let out an ungodly scream.

“I love you. I love you so much,” Melina babbled on.

“I know you do,” Jamie said fondly. “Especially when I do this,” she continued.

Seeing as Mark was only listening, he could only guess at what Jamie had done but whatever it was seemed to work as he heard Melina’s breath hitch. Mark leaned forwards, though he wasn’t sure he was doing it until he stumbled headlong and slammed against the door. Both Jamie and Melina went silent.

“What the hell?” Jamie asked, and Mark could hear the bed creaking, as if someone were getting off of it.

“Darling, it’s probably just Oscar again. You know how antsy he’s been lately. If you open the door, it’ll just encourage him to try to get in, and you know how weird it is to have one of them staring at you while you’re going at it,” Melina reasoned, and Mark guessed it worked because he could not hear any more footsteps coming towards the door.

“That kind of ruined the moment,” Jamie said with a laugh. “I’m gonna shower real quick.”

“You want me to join you?” Melina asked, and Mark could just perfectly picture the impish grin on her face.

“No, I need to actually get clean. I’ll be right back,” she said. It took Mark’s mind too long to realize that if Jamie was going towards the shower, she would be walking in his direction. He remained frozen to the floor as the door swung open and made panicked eye contact with Jamie, who thankfully was wearing a shirt. 

“How long have you been standing there?” She asked in horror.

“I just got here,” Mark lied, his mind spiraling. “I walked through the front door and saw one of the cats making a fuss so I assumed this was where all the action was.” Jesus Christ, why did he refer to it as ‘the action?’

Mark could see the relief in Jamie’s eyes as she let out a genuine exhale.

“Of course,” she said. “Melina!” She called out over her shoulder. “Mark is here.”

“What?” Melina called back, and he could see over Jamie’s shoulder that she had fallen off of the bed in shock. Melina, unlike Jamie, was not wearing underwear. And Mark found himself staring at Melina probably longer than he should have, before Jamie clicked her fingers in his face, a slight glare in her eyes.

Right. It was none of his business anymore. But really, it wasn’t something he hadn’t already seen tons of times in the past.

“Is everything alright?” Melina asked as she ran over to the overcrowded doorway. She had quickly pulled on some sweatpants and an old shirt, but without her bra, her breasts were very visibly sticking out.

“Yeah, everything is fine,” Mark said, as he tried to remember why exactly he had come over. Nothing was coming to his head.

“Well, I’m gonna shower,” Jamie announced again, before quickly speeding away.

“Seriously, Mark, are you alright?” Melina asked again, softer this time. She looked at him with genuine concern in her dark brown eyes and Mark felt his heart plummet as if he were fourteen years old again. “Why did you come over?”

“I’m so sorry,” Mark said. “But there’s something I just realized I need to do. I’ll call later, alright?” He asked, even though he was already turning around and running back down the stairs.

 

“Are you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Dana commented as soon as Mark walked through the door.

“If only I were so lucky. I accidentally walked in on Melina and she was in bed and,” he fumbled his words clumsily. Dana, somehow understanding what he meant, placed a hand to her mouth.

“What did they do?” She asked in fascination.

“They don’t know. I lied and said I didn’t see anything,” Mark said, collapsing down into the kitchen chair. “Can I talk to you?” He began cautiously. “I know that this is the worst time to tell you this. But it needs to be said now, rather than years down the line.” Dana looked at him with tired eyes, as if she already knew what was coming. “I tried as hard as I could to push these feeling down, because she will never love me back. But it’s not fair to keeping putting you through this.” He took a deep breath, knowing he needed to say the words plainly. “I’m still in love with Melina. Seeing her again tonight, I just know it’s her and it’s only ever going to be her.”

“Me too,” Dana said. Mark looked at her with total confusion, not understanding how any of his words could apply to what she said. “If we’re getting painful confessions out of the way,” Dana began, “I think I’m also in love with Melina. Not in the same way you are, of course. You two have history. But I just had this deep anger burning inside me whenever I saw you two were together and I told myself it was just jealousy. And it was. But it wasn’t for her, it was for you. And how fucked is that?” She asked, her eyes clouded in thought. 

Mark looked at her with wide eyes, never guessing in a million years that this was how this conversation was going to go.

“Is there just something about me?” He yelled, suddenly, causing Dana to jump back. “Am I just repulsive enough that all the women in my life decide to convert to lesbianism?” He asked, looking at her as if he actually wanted an answer.

“Were you this aggressive when Melina broke up with you?” Dana asked furiously, stepping forwards. “Because if you’re this angry about someone you weren’t in love with, I can’t imagine how you were when Melina did it.”

“You think I’m not allowed to be angry?” Mark demanded.

“You’re allowed to be angry,” Dana shouted, throwing her hands into the air. “But can you just stop and think about how hard this is for me? You’re yelling at me as if I woke up this morning and decided that your dick was so small that I would suddenly decide to be… what I am. I am terrified out of my fucking mind. And I know Melina probably was, too, when she told you. You told me she was Indian, right? I’m pretty sure people get killed for that shit over there. My life is over, Mark. I can’t tell my parents about this shit. I have to make up some other fucking reason why I suddenly split up with the man who’s fathering my kid. I’m sorry Melina didn’t love you back. I’m sorry I don’t love you back, despite the fact that you don’t love me, either. But mostly, I’m sorry I have to deal with all this shit now, instead of you pulling your head out of your ass six months ago.”

Mark stared at her with wide eyes. Dana was looking at him with a fury he had never seen before, her chest heaving with anger. He had literally no idea what to say to that.

“And if you want to make yourself feel better, you can pretend I’m just being a bitch because I’m overwhelmed with pregnancy hormones,” she growled as she stormed out of the room.

 

Time seemed to pass in a strange blur after that. He didn’t think anything of it when he picked up the phone a couple hours later and dialed Melina’s home.

“Hello?” Melina answered, her voice groggy. 

“Melina?” Mark asked quietly.

“Mark,” Melina answered, sharper this time. “Darling, you’ve been behaving weirdly all day, I’ve been worried. Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” he said, reflexively.

“Standing outside my room until someone answers and then dashing away before going radio-silent until three in the morning doesn’t exactly suggest a stable state of mind,” Melina retorted.

Was it actually three in the morning? What the hell had Mark been doing for a quarter of the day?

“I’m sorry. The time must have slipped by me. I’ll call back later,” Mark said, moving the phone from his face to end the call.

“Mark!” Melina shouted, loud enough that he could hear it two feet away from his face. He reluctantly pulled the phone back to his ear. “I meant what I said. I’m worried about you. Just tell me what’s wrong.”

And god, how could he begin to rationalize what had just gone down?

“Dana and I cut things off,” he admitted, and heard a sharp intake of breath on the other line.

“I am so sorry,” Melina said, and Mark could tell that she meant every word. “You don’t have to give me the details, but you should come over. I’ll find a way to take your mind off of things.”

Mark took a moment to respond, and he could hear muffled voices, as if Melina had put her hand over the receiver and was talking to someone behind her.

“It’s three in the morning,” Mark protested, weakly.

“You and I both know I’m no stranger to staying up late. Now come over,” Melina insisted, before hanging up the phone herself. Mark sat and listened to the dial tone before putting the phone back and searching for some tennis shoes.  
  


The second Mark walked through the door, a pair of arms wrapped around him and he had to fight the impulse to defend himself. He looked down to see the top of Melina’s head.

Melina pulled away and looked intently into his eyes. She had pulled an old grey sweatshirt over her pink pajama bottoms but to her credit, she looked very much like she had not just been awoken in the middle of the night by her rambling ex-fiancé.

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked, her voice soft.

Mark considered those words, and didn’t think he could bear to admit to her what he had told Dana, and what she had very angrily told him in return. He just shook his head, and Melina nodded in understanding.

“We can talk about something else then,” Melina said. “I’ll fetch some tea. Be just a moment.” Mark took that as his cue to relocate to the main living room.

“Here we go,” Melina said as she entered the room a few moments later, placing a tray down with two cups. Mark picked his up and brought the drink gently to his lips. The tea tasted exactly the way that he had preferred and his face flushed at the idea that Melina still remembered after all those years.

 

They talked about absolutely nothing for hours. Just boring, mundane things like work (though no one could ever describe Melina’s work as mundane), and the news and anything else in between. Melina had a talent for centering conversations around her, which was just what Mark needed. He sat and listened to Melina talk and allowed himself to just focus on her words and the way she was saying them and soon enough he found his eyes begin to droop.

“I should… I should go,” Mark slurred out once there was a lull in the conversation.

“Absolutely not,” Melina said, standing up. “You can take the guest room. You may have to move Tiffany a bit to the side but the bed’s already made. Now come on,” she said, tugging at his hands. He grabbed her as well and let her pull him up. He felt his finger brush against Melina’s wedding ring and the warmth that enveloped him at her touch faded instantly.

They made their way up the stairs, careful to be quiet as it was currently somewhere around five in the morning. Melina led him into the bed and sure enough, Tiffany was sleeping right in the center, looking more content than Mark had ever been in his life.

“Come on, my love,” Melina whispered and Mark looked up in shock before realizing she was speaking to the cat. She picked the disgruntled feline up and placed her at the edge of the bed. Tiffany glared up at her, but rolled back up into a ball and fell asleep regardless. “There you go. Let me know if you need anything,” Melina said, pulling the sheet cover back.

“I will. Goodnight, Melina,” Mark said, climbing into bed.

“Sleep well,” she returned with a soft smile, shutting the door behind her.

 

The next morning, Mark awoke to a knock on his door. He barely had enough time to remember where he was before the door slid slowly open.

Instead of Melina, in walked Jamie, an unfamiliar blaze in her eye as she strode over to where he was sleeping. He quickly pulled the blanket over his chest, feeling uncomfortable with her seeing any part of his bare body.

“Can we talk?” She asked in the tone of voice that suggested she really wasn’t taking no for an answer. Mark inwardly sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was have a one-on-one with Jamie Fucking Hutton. “I’m a calm person,” she began, when Mark didn’t respond. “I try not to let things ruffle me. When Melina told me she wanted to keep her ex in her life, I didn’t bat an eye. What she does with her friendships is her own damn business. But listen to me,” Jamie said, her eyes blazing.

“You know, I really don’t-” Mark began, bristling at her tone.

“No,” Jamie cut him off. “Listen to me,” she repeated. “You and I both know that you did not just show up right as I opened the door yesterday. And you are lucky that you have someone like Melina who trusts you enough to believe you. And I don’t know why you were doing what you were doing but it’s over. Melina is not your girlfriend anymore. You don’t get the right to look at her naked, or listen to her having sex, or any other weird perversion you might have. Especially when she doesn’t even fucking know about it. Now I’m choosing to believe that you just momentarily fucked up, and I’m not going to tell Melina about the shit you pulled. But try it one more fucking time, and I will ensure that you never step foot in this house again.”

It was probably the fifth time in 24 hours that Mark was lost for words.

“It’s not your house,” came his genius response. Jamie just laughed.

“No but it’s my wife’s house,” she said, knowing how much that would sting for Mark to hear. He widened his eyes in shock, every other time he had seen Jamie she had seemed reserved and uncomfortable. This was someone else entirely. “And I think that might just have a little bit of sway, don’t you?”

Her eyes were frozen with anger and Mark was struck for a second by just how different the two girls were. Melina was always passionate in her fury, quick to set off but quick to calm down in return. Jamie, though, looked at him with a bitterness so deep it must have taken months to form. So no matter what she said before, Mark knew he must have gotten under her skin at least a little before today.

“And what if I tell her that her so-called wife was threatening me?” Mark asked, his mind whirling.

“And admit to her that you were standing in her house and getting off to her getting fucked by another woman?” Jamie answered, easily. “I don’t have to like you and you don’t have to like me. We just have to be courteous to each other for her sake. And I can do that, as long as you respect my boundaries and my wife’s.”

And with that, she left the room.

Mark let his head flop back onto the pillow and wondered when his life was going to feel normal again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I haven’t been able to write much in the past week or so, so I decided to publish this, which has been sitting around for months bc I’m still extremely iffy on the whole thing. So don’t worry if you thought this fic felt a bit off, I feel it too lol 
> 
> Also disclaimer: But this fic was dreamed up as less of an attack on Mary Austin the person, and more of a frustrated response on how movie Mary did several fucked up things ("Your life is going to be very difficult" ???) but the movie still frames her as the moral hero, which is.... Odd.


	13. i daydream i’d give one a name of my own

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> an unexpected visitor comes to garden lodge. also there's a baby.

Brianna had not seen Melina in almost four months. This was not any cause for concern, the group had all unanimously decided that they needed a break, and all of them went off to work on their own things. It was healthy, and allowed everyone to feel refreshed when they inevitably drifted back to one another, revitalized and ready to make new music.

They didn’t shut off all contact with one another, they would occasionally call each other on the phones and arrange a lunch visit, but there were no hard feelings if nothing panned out.

That beings said, it was admittedly a bit weird that Brianna had made the somewhat impulsive decision to drive over to Melina’s home unannounced.

“Oh, hello, Bri,” Melina greeted brightly, a genuine smile growing on her face, despite the slight confusion in her eyes. “What brings you over today?”

Brianna sat for a long moment, struggling to come up with a response. Every time she tried to look at Melina’s face, she found her eyes travelling downwards, her brain wanting to focus on the elephant in the room.

Namely that Melina was holding a baby in her right arm as she held the door open with the left.

The baby looked up at Brianna in wonder, and Brianna felt a surge of affection and confusion flood through her in equal measure. The baby had Melina’s dark hair, just slightly beginning to curl at the edges, and she had Melina’s warm brown eyes.

Brianna’s brain began to rush as she mentally calculated backwards. It was currently February, and the band had not seen each other in person since October. Melina certainly had not been showing at all. She just ran around the stage as she always did, taking no precautions towards her body.

But Brianna had also read a horror-worthy article in the papers a few months back about a woman who had given birth in her toilet, completely unaware that she had been pregnant. The woman apparently hadn’t showed any signs, including the telltale baby bump, and had gone about her life as usual. Melina’s tiny body had always been a bit strange, she supposed it wouldn’t surprise her too much if Melina just didn’t show for some reason.

But that also raised another question of why Melina hadn’t told anybody once she had actually given birth. The singer loved parties more than anything else, Brianna knew she would have jumped at the opportunity to plan an announcement or a baby shower. Just because she was private with her affairs to the public, doesn’t mean that she acted the same way around her loved ones.

There must have been some reason, Brianna realized with her stomach dropping in shame, that Melina had decided that she couldn’t trust her with this information. She idly wondered if Regina knew about this. She probably did.

“Not that it’s not wonderful to see you,” Melina spoke, breaking Brianna out of her mental spiral. “But are you alright? If you just came to visit, I think it would be much better if you came in. You’ll catch your death just standing outside in the cold.”

Brianna just nodded, stepping around Melina through the doorway.

Melina led the three of them into her lounge, gently placing her baby into the crib that had been placed near the corner, sitting at an angle that allowed the bed to be visible regardless of where in the room you stood.

“I panicked and bought three separate cribs for each of the main rooms,” Melina said with a laugh.

This was the first time Melina had directly acknowledged the baby, but Brianna still could not find the courage to ask about it herself.

“Better than no crib, I suppose,” Brianna said lightly.

“Darling,” Melina said, taking Brianna’s hand into her own. “Are you alright? You’re beginning to scare me.”

“Yes, I’m alright. There was something I wanted to talk to you about,” Brianna said, trying to remind herself to forget the baby and focus on why she had driven over in the first place.

Before she could explain what exactly it was that she needed to say, the baby had begun crying furiously. Melina’s eyes widened as she ran over to the crib, and picked the little girl up with caution.

“Oh shit,” Melina said. “I’ll be just a moment,” she told Brianna, carrying the baby out of the room as fast as she could without upsetting her further.

As she exited out of sight, Brianna found her head growing foggier with each passing second. How in the hell had Melina given birth to this baby, seemingly out of nowhere, and decided to just not tell anyone? If she didn’t start explaining things when she came back, Brianna was going to find some way to interrogate it out of her.

“So sorry,” Melina said, hurrying back in the room after a moment. “I just decided to hand her off to Jamie. I trust her to take care of things much more than I do, she’s actually very good with children,” Melina gushed, her voice growing fond in the way it always did when she spoke about the Irishwoman. “I suppose having all those siblings probably helps a bit. It’s such a shame.”

Truth be told, in all of the shock from before, Brianna had briefly forgotten about the woman living with Melina. This just raised another question. Obviously, the two couldn’t have a child together, especially not one that was biologically theirs. Yet, here this child was, looking so similar to Melina it made her heart ache.

So what had happened there? Had Melina slept with someone else? Very unlikely, considering how adamant she was that she would never be involved with another man in her life. Even more unlikely that she would do so, and have Jamie stick around. Jamie was a reserved person, but Brianna always had the sense that she respected herself too much to put up with a lot of Melina’s nonsense, cheating very much included in that.

“So,” Melina said, sitting down next to Brianna on the couch so quickly her legs flew in the air for a moment. “Now. Finally. Tell me what you wanted to talk about.”

“Oh,” Brianna said. “Well, this was a band decision, and I think it’s something we should all talk about together. I just wanted to run it by you first. Seeing as you’re the most… positive out of all of us, if you think this isn’t a good idea, then I know to scrap the idea.”

Melina nodded intently, and Brianna felt dizzy, just as she always did when the singer gave her her undivided attention, dark eyes so intense it felt as if she were looking right though you.

Melina opened her mouth to, Brianna assumed, encourage Brianna to just get to the point. But before Brianna could speak again, she noticed that Melina’s eyes had shifted to somewhere behind her.

“Hello love,” Melina greeted Jamie, who was carrying the baby into the room, the little girl fallen fast asleep. Jamie lowered her gently into the crib, and backed out of the room, her hands raised in apology for interrupting the conversation.

“I just realized I never introduced you two,” Melina exclaimed, throwing her hands up in dismay. “Well, I’m not going to disturb her rest,” she said, and Brianna breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, she was going to get some answers. “Her name is Jamila, and she’s just the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. I thought I was going to just die when I laid eyes on her at the hospital,” Melina said, her head tilted back in fondness.

So, still, no answers.

“Was she…” Brianna trailed off, knowing she would have to be very careful about what she said next. “Was she unexpected?”

“Not as far as I’m aware,” Melina said, her face scrunched in confusion, which made even less sense than Brianna was expecting. “That’s an odd question.”

“You never mentioned her,” Brianna pointed out, trying to make sure her voice wasn’t as accusatory as she felt.

“I guess I didn’t,” Melina said, silent after a moment of trying to think. “Sorry, lots of things have been happening, it must have slipped my mind.”

“A baby slipped your mind?” The question left Brianna’s lips before she could think about it further. Melina looked taken aback, and Brianna just sighed.

“I don’t know why you’re getting annoyed, Bri. I didn’t think this was something you would care this much about, or else you know that I would have told you,” Melina said, her eyes widening.

“Of course I would want to know,” Brianna said, her mind confused and hurt in equal measure.

“I promise I’ll let you know next time,” Melina reassured her, placing her hand on Brianna’s very tense shoulder.

Oh, so this wasn’t just a freak one off. Melina was going to maybe have more children. Before Brianna could analyze that comment any further, the doorbell rang.

“That must be him,” Melina said. “Be back in a moment.”

Brianna felt herself rise from the couch as Melina left the room, and walked over to the crib where Jamila was sleeping soundly. She looked at the baby for a long moment, before being distracted by Melina returning to the room. Right behind her was Kashmir, who was making a beeline straight for the crib.

“She was just put down for a nap a little bit ago,” Melina explained quietly as Kash peered over the ledge.

“And she hasn’t been any trouble?” Kash asked.

“She’s been an absolute angel,” Melina reassured.

“Good,” Kash sighed in relief. “I’m so sorry about springing her on you like this last minute.”

“Don’t worry about it for a second,” Melina waved him off. “Why wouldn’t I want to spend time with the cutest niece in the world?”

And suddenly Brianna felt as if she was monumentally stupid. Stupid on a fundamental level. Stupid to the point that she should tear up the old thesis she had stored at her place, because there was no way she could ever consider applying for a doctorate with her subpar level of intelligence.

Of course the baby looked like Melina, but wasn’t hers. And of course Melina was confused when Brianna had accused her of not giving information. None of them talked too often about other family member’s affairs, why would Melina have started now?

“I’ll take her off your hands,” Kash said with fondness, gently lifting Jamila so as to not disturb her. “You’ve been a real help.” Melina just waved him off, repeating again and again that it was no trouble. “And it’s nice to see you again, Brianna. How’s everything going with you?”

Brianna stood for a long moment and tried to pretend like she had not just gone through a complete crisis and realization.

“Yeah, everything’s been alright.”

Genius answer.

“Well, I’m going to get going. Goodbye,” he waved to the both of them, before escorting himself out of the house.

Melina took Brianna’s hand after a moment and guided her back to the couch.

“I’m sorry about a moment ago,” Brianna apologized, seeing the concern in Melina’s eyes. “Just seeing you with a baby threw me off. There’s no reason to get mad at you for not telling me about your niece.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Melina said. “It is a bit weird. I’m not much of a mother figure, am I?” Melina asked, though her voice was hiding something Brianna wasn’t sure she could identify. “But,” she exclaimed so suddenly Brianna had to fight the urge to jump back a bit, “enough with all the baby distractions. What did you want to tell me?”

“I was thinking that this time around we could-”

Before she could finish her sentence, the doorbell rang. Melina threw her hands up in frustration.

“I’m never gonna fucking know what your idea is,” she ranted before getting up again and storming out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this series is going so far off the rails at this point, I don’t even know anymore. Hope you enjoyed anyways. Also, I haven't mentioned this in a while but I'm at jimhuttonlesbian.tumblr.com if you wanna talk!!


	14. feel my skin is plump and full of life, i'm in my prime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> melina’s not being kind to herself, and jamie is not going to stand for that

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter warning: there is a large theme in this story discussing bodies/body issues.  
> and there’s no actual sex but it does get ""erotic"" for lack of a better word

Melina had been a little off all day. Both Pete and Jamie had noticed it pretty quickly, and resolved to give her space until it blew over. She had a tendency to pick fights when she was antsy, but they never helped the situation, and usually only served to make things worse.

The moment Jamie did decide to step in happened the second she realized that Melina had not come down from her room since breakfast, meaning that she hadn’t eaten food all day. And that just wouldn’t do.

 

“Hey honey, Pete made, uh, zulbia,” Jamie said, stumbling on the word as she tried to make sure she got the pronunciation right. “Do you want some?” She asked, resting the tray against the closed bedroom door to give her hands a break.

“That’s okay,” Melina called out, and Jamie frowned.

“I know you always say that your mother makes it better, but Pete is pretty sure she’s gotten it right this time,” Jamie said, a slight plea in her voice.

“I’m just not hungry,” Melina snapped.

“But you haven’t eaten all day,” Jamie sighed. “Look, can I at least come in?”

There was a long stretch of silence, which Jamie took as a yes. If Melina really didn’t want her coming in, she definitely would have said something.

When she walked in, she found Melina lying flat across the bed, looking blankly up at the ceiling. Jamie placed the small tray of food on the bedside table and crawled onto the bed next to her. 

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” Jamie asked, leaning over so she could cross Melina’s eye-line.

“It’s nothing,” Melina sighed.

“It’s not nothing,” Jamie corrected. “Because if it were nothing, you wouldn’t be sulking.”

“Do you think I’m fat?” Melina asked suddenly, causing Jamie to blink in surprise for a few moments.

Melina? Fat? Melina was about the tiniest person Jamie had ever met. And sure, she’d been off tour for a little while, which meant she always gained a couple pounds, but she wasn’t _fat_.

“No, you’re not. But even if you were, that wouldn’t… did someone say something to you?” Jamie asked suddenly, wondering if she was going to have to murder anyone. She took Melina’s silence as an answer. “Who was it?”

“I don’t know,” Melina shrugged. “I just caught sight of a couple of tabloids. I didn’t buy them or anything, it’s on the front page.”

“But you know those are complete bullshit,” Jamie said, stroking a piece of hair away from Melina’s face. “You can’t let them get to you now.”

“I know,” Melina waved her hands around, swatting at the air. “It just tends to stick in your brain sometimes.”

“Will you let me do something?” Jamie whispered, an idea springing into her head. Melina looked at her with suspicion, but nodded her head. Jamie leaned over and took Melina’s shirt into her hands, gently pulling upwards.

“I’m not really up for sex right now,” Melina argued, but put her arms up to help Jamie remove the shirt anyways. Knowing that she wasn’t going to leave the house today, she didn’t bother putting a bra on.

“You don’t have to do anything,” Jamie promised.

She pressed a long kiss into Melina’s collarbone, which used to protrude dangerously out but had softened a bit in the past couple of months. She peppered a trail of kisses down Melina’s chest until she reached the curve of her breast.

“It kills me that you don’t know how pretty you are,” Jamie said, before lightly wrapping her mouth around Melina’s nipple and sucking. Melina let out a shuddered breath but did not, to Jamie’s delight, say anything to the contrary. “Do you remember the night we met?” 

“Of course I do. You didn’t know who I was,” Melina accused, her voice going higher with each word as Jamie placed her mouth on her other nipple and sucked.

“No, but I thought you were beautiful,” Jamie told her, returning to Melina’s neck and leaving more light kisses. “So beautiful, that I told you I liked women right off the bat, because I hoped you would respond. And I’m so glad you did, because now you’re here with me. My beautiful beautiful wife.”

“I never said I wasn’t pretty,” Melina countered with a small smirk on her face. “Just that I’ve gained weight since then.”

Jamie rolled her eyes.

“Y’know, so you’ve gained a couple pounds. And now your breasts don’t really fit your bra as well which, by the way, is very hot,” Jamie said, fondling said breasts absentmindedly as she spoke. “But weren’t you the one complaining earlier about how tiny you were? How you maybe wanted a little bit more of a bust, or some wider hips?”

Melina huffed, and rolled over onto her stomach, folding her arms together like a sulking child and resting her head on top of them. 

“And I wasn’t going to say anything,” Jamie leaned over Melina and whispered near her neck as if she were going to tell a secret, “but your arse looked amazing in your jeans yesterday. People were staring.” She accompanied her statement with a light slap to Melina’s ass, causing Melina to let out a light hum.

Melina’s new position made contact a little bit harder, but Jamie straddled Melina’s hips from behind, and returned kissing her neck, this time with fervor.

And Melina could pretend all she wanted that she was annoyed, but the fact that she was practically purring said otherwise.

The two continued on in silence, until Jamie noticed that Melina’s skin was beginning to bruise into a hickey. That Melina was going to be home for the next few months and Jamie could do things like this without Melina getting questioned about it from the media for the next few months was something Jamie treasured more than she was willing to admit.

Though she would be lying if she didn’t find it slightly arousing to imagine Melina running out onstage, love marks all over her neck and chest, leaving the audience wondering who exactly had left them, but never letting them find out.

Melina rolled over in a daze, and looked up at Jamie with warm eyes.

“Now,” Jamie said, leaning back onto her knees, “eat this,” Jamie said, grabbing the neglected dessert off of the bedside drawer and held it out for Melina to take.

“I said I wasn’t hungry,” Melina argued.

“What did you eat today?” Jamie asked, already knowing the answer.

“I had toast,” Melina said, annoyed.

“Mhm. For breakfast. We’re past dinner now. Eat,” Jamie said again. Melina showed no signs of budging. “Lay back,” Jamie told her, hitting the pillow behind her. “And I’ll feed you.”

Melina looked at her for a long moment before crawling over to the headboard, and sitting up, holding herself like a queen. Or, more accurately, a king. Jamie held the dessert over Melina’s mouth, nudging it gently down before Melina took an aggressive bite, her teeth snapping together like a trap clashing shut.

“You behave like such a naughty child sometimes,” Jaime commented, refusing to be intimidated as she leaned over to grab another piece. “I swear, sometimes, it’s like you want to be spanked.”

“Just feed me,” Melina said flippantly, ignoring the thrill that went through her at her wife’s words.

“Say please,” Jamie ordered, dangling the piece of dessert a few inches away from Melina’s mouth.

“You just told me you wanted me to eat, and now you’re telling me I have to beg for my food?” Melina challenged.

“Yes, because you’ve made it difficult,” Jamie said.

“Then I just won’t eat,” Melina declared, crossing her arms.

“You’re so stubborn,” Jamie sighed.

“Hello pot, meet kettle,” Melina said, before taking the piece of food from Jamie’s hand and eating it before Jamie could stop her. “I’m halfway convinced that you’re just doing this in a diabolical attempt to fatten me up.”

“And what would I get out of that?” Jamie questioned, excited that her little attempt at reverse psychology worked.

“Some people are into bigger girls,” Melina shrugged, taking Jamie’s hand and sucking on her fingers to catch the excess sugar that had been left behind.

“You would know about that, Miss Chubby Chaser,” Jamie teased, referencing an old t-shirt Melina kept in the back of her closet.

“That’s Mrs. Chubby Chaser, if you please. I’m a married woman,” Melina corrected.

“My apologies,” Jamie said. “That being said, you all of all people shouldn’t worry about a little more meat on the bones. You’re still ridiculously tiny.”

“Back in the early seventies, when I was just out of university, I weighed seven stone,” Melina told her, laughing at Jamie’s widening eyes.

“I’m not being funny, but I’m pretty sure my aunt had a dog that weighed more than you back when I was growing up,” Jamie whispered. “How did you not get carried away anytime a gust of wind went by?”

“My first boyfriend could pick me up with one arm,” Melina remembered suddenly. “He used to try to carry me all the time, I absolutely hated it.”

“Melina, you love being carried,” Jamie said.

“Not by men though,” Melina said, as if that should have been very obvious.

“Fair enough,” Jamie agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter went from slightly sexy to mostly stupid which I feel says a lot about me.


	15. (s)he liked her more than life itself, i’m sure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brianna’s perspective on a few key moments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter warning: very minor mentions of abuse at the beginning of the story, nothing graphic.

The first time that Brianna had ever heard the name ‘Jamie’ was when Regina had wheedled it out of Melina after a long day of band rehearsal.

And while Regina was a bit too excited about the whole thing, Brianna felt a sense of joy as well. From being engaged to someone of the wrong gender to cheating and violence, Melina had gone through her share of messy relationships. But no one seemed to have brought her as much excitement as this mysterious Jamie girl. Forgive the scientist in her for being a bit curious.

That being said, the one thing that was true about Melina, no matter how many years and life changes the two had gone through together, was that she was stubborn. So Brianna vowed to stay out of it.

At least until Melina left the rehearsal room.

“So what _is_ she like?” Brianna whispered to Regina, paranoid that somehow Melina would still be able to hear her through the thick metal door.

Regina, feeling satisfied now that Brianna had admitted her curiosity and stopped pretending to be above it all, just smirked.

“She’s about Melina’s height, dark hair that’s almost to her chin, a bit of a bigger girl but we all know…” Regina began, holding up her fingers as she listed each trait.

“That’s not what I meant,” Brianna cut her off.

“She seems nice,” Regina said, seriously. “I don’t know, I guess she just held onto Melina… gentler than the others did, if that makes any sense.”

“That’s good,” Brianna nodded her head.

“But that doesn’t mean she’s off the hook,” Regina said, her voice changing in an instant. “Melina may put her faith in these women time and time again but my optimism ran out about five ‘No, Regina, I got this bruise from running into the walls, it’s absolutely not what you think it is's ago.”

“I think that it’s probably for the best to be cautious,” Brianna agreed. “As long as you don’t do something stupid like track her down at her home and interrogate her,” Brianna said, realizing that saying the words aloud would probably just encourage Regina to follow through even more.

“Who would do something like that?” Regina asked with an innocent smile Brianna didn’t buy for a second.

 

Melina had told the band that Jamie was coming to the concert tonight, and Brianna felt a genuine sense of relief run through her. She had heard about the woman enough times from both Melina and Regina, but she wasn’t sure she could fully trust either of their judgements. Melina was in the stage of the relationship where she was too blinded by her rose-tinted glasses. And Regina had been weird about the whole situation from the beginning.

So as Brianna sat in the dressing room, she fussed around with her hair in the mirror and tried to pretend that she wasn’t waiting.

Finally, the door opened and Melina stepped through, a wide-eyed woman trailing behind her. Brianna was on her feet in an instant, before she could even get a chance to look at the other woman.

“You must be the elusive Jamie we keep hearing about,” Brianna greeted, sticking her hand out for a handshake. “I’m Brianna.”

“Hello Brianna,” Jamie greeted, taking Brianna’s hand. Brianna finally got a good chance to look at her, and could confirm what Regina and Melina had already said. She was a little over five feet, with a pretty round face that currently looked very overwhelmed. “Yeah, I’m Jamie. You play the guitar, right? Melina talks about me?”

‘Oh god, if only Melina would stop talking about you,’ is what Brianna would say, if she had the tact of someone like, for example, Regina.

“Yep, lead guitarist,” Brianna said instead. “And yes, of course Melina’s talks about you. And Regina also tends to bring you up in conversation, as well.”

Brianna saw Jamie’s eyes furrow in confusion at that, and desperately wanted to make another comment about how she agreed with how weird it was considering the fact that the two barely knew each other. But Melina had already moved Jamie over to where Jane was sitting.

So all in all, there wasn’t too much Brianna had learned that she hadn’t already heard. But she had seen for herself that Jamie seemed like a genuinely nice and ordinary person. Not someone who was faking it for Melina’s money or fame.

But only time would tell, of course.

Though she would admit that Jamie lost about five points in Brianna’s book for being in her thirties and having never attended a rock concert before.

 

But soon enough, Jamie had become a staple of Melina’s life just as much as Dominick had become one for Regina or Chris had become one for her.

The excitement of Melina’s new lover died down after a few weeks, and everyone felt as if they were able to take a breath of relief. Melina’s girlfriend’s true natures tended to rear their ugly heads after a few months, but soon enough a year had passed by, and nothing had changed.

But to be fair, she hadn’t realized just exactly _how well_ it was going until she heard Regina scream during rehearsal one day, and turned her head to see Melina displaying a beautiful diamond ring on her finger.

“Congratulations,” Brianna said in a bit of a daze, unable to take her eyes off of the ring.

“I never thought I would care this much,” Melina said, sounding just as dazed as Brianna felt, as if she too was surprised that this was happening.

Brianna had a million questions in her own head. They obviously couldn’t get married for real, so was the ring just symbolic? Were they going to have a ceremony? When did this happen? How did it?

But she held them all back, and let Melina just be simply happy for this one moment in time. Finally.   
  


They did have a marriage ceremony, it turns out.

It was a private event at Melina’s own home, and only the people that the bride and bride trusted the most would be able to attend. Melina asked Brianna and the rest of the band to perform a couple songs for the ceremony, as if there was any universe in which the trio could say no to her.

Brianna looked out to the audience to see her husband Chris sitting next to Jane and her own husband. Next to him was Dominick, leaving an empty seat for Regina, who would be walking Melina down the aisle in lieu of her absent father.

Brianna was truly ecstatic for her friend, but she frowned as she tried to imagine getting married without telling either of her parents it was happening. She understood why Melina couldn’t, of course. But it had to have stung, all the same.

Before she could reflect on that sad topic any further, she saw Pete nod to her, indicating that she should begin playing the intro music, signaling that the wedding was going to start.

She didn’t look up from the sheet music no matter how much she wanted to, not having enough faith in her piano playing ability as she did with her guitar. Melina always downplayed her ability to play any instrument, but she was the only one in the band that Brianna suspected could look up from playing the piano and not completely lose track of where she was. But Brianna was not going to test that theory on this day, of all days.

After the two brides had reached the front of the aisle, Brianna was finally able to turn around. She felt her heart plummet to her stomach as she finally got to see Melina. She looked beautiful, more radiant than Brianna had ever seen. Which was quite a feat, considering how god-like Melina looked each night she was onstage. But tonight, Melina was practically glowing.

If Brianna wasn’t sold on their relationship already, this would have been all it took. From Melina’s radiant smile, to the way Jamie held her as if she couldn’t quite believe someone like Melina could even exist, it was clear that no one else was going to make them as happy as they were in that moment.

God, Melina was actually showing teeth right now. That never happened.

Married life suited Melina well. There was a point in Brianna’s life where she wasn’t sure she would ever be able to say those words, what with how chaotic Melina acted when she was younger; a different woman every night and cocaine in her body more often than any food of nutritional value. But God was Brianna glad to be proven wrong.

She had stopped worrying about Jamie’s intentions around the time of the wedding, but it was nice to continue to be reassured year after year.

Even with just the little things, like when Jamie would wake up in the middle of the night to pick Melina up from the studio when she had fallen asleep. Or when Melina had finally felt comfortable with her relationship to put on a few pounds and didn’t worry about whether her wife was going to find her ugly and abandon her. Or when Jamie called on random nights when Melina was on tour to just to hear her voice.

Or when she could see the two of them, hand and hand on the sidewalk after so many years of having to pretend that Jamie was nothing more than staff. Melina openly calling Jamie her wife during interviews and press tours. Or when she watched Melina, with graying hair and a proud smile on her face as she insisted on throwing a huge party for her wife’s fiftieth.

Or when the decades passed by, and the two remained as devoted to each other as the day they met.

Brianna was very glad to never have to worry about Melina again. Or at least, not about her love life. She and Regina both still gave Brianna a heart attack about once a week. Quite a feat, considering they had all known each other for over fifty years at this point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If this seems rushed, it’s because I wrote and edited this whole thing in less than 24 hours. 
> 
> But also! I thought now would be a good time to mention that if you requested something, and I haven’t written it, it is not because I am ignoring you. Some of these are just taking longer to get to. You’ll see them all someday! 
> 
> I hope this chapter is finding you well!!


	16. if your hands need to break more than trinkets in your room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melina is a very tiny girl, but she's got a lot of strong emotions to make up for it (set in '79)

Melina was not one to get stage fright. Quite the opposite, she loved the build-up before going on, jumping up and down and hearing the roar of the people waiting for the band, waiting for her. She had full confidence in her singing and her ability to perform just as she had full confidence in her fellow bandmates. So really, there was no reason to be nervous.

But after Brianna insisted on showing up to the venue two hours before they were actually needed, causing the rest of the band to stand around doing nothing while the venue crew set up, well. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a bit antsy.

Tonight was one of the rare occasions that all three of the other member’s boyfriends/husbands were able to show up, and Melina, having only just recently ended things with Mark, had absolutely no one to talk to as she desperately wished she hadn’t cut her hair, if only to give her something to do with her hands while she waited. Honestly, the girls liked to joke that Paula was a leech of some kind, someone who didn’t know when she wasn’t wanted, but Melina would do anything to just _speak_ to another human for just ten minutes.

Luckily, as if she had picked up on the desperate brainwaves Melina was sending out, Regina came over and sat next to Melina and her mirror.

“So me and Dom have a bet,” she said, fussing with her hair as she spoke. “You know the big guy that keeps running in and out of the rooms?”

Melina nodded in confirmation.

“Well, where do you think he’s from? Because Dom says he thinks South America but I was thinking more Asia,” Regina said, causing Melina to realize that all of them must have been as bored as she felt if this was the topic of discussion.

“Well, considering that he was speaking Hindu under his breath, I should think he’s probably Indian,” Melina said with a shrug.

“Oh,” Regina said, tilting her head to the side. “Huh, guess we were both wrong,” she said with a shrug.

“Where do you think India is?” Melina asked, watching Regina get up to walk away. Regina turned to her with a confused look, and Melina tried not to sound too condescending, knowing that she wasn’t a genius in geography either. “Indians are South Asian.”

Regina went quiet for a moment and Melina could vividly see the map she was trying to form in her head of what her idea of Asia looked like.

“Oh,” she said. “I guess that makes sense,” she said before letting out a huge cheer. “I won the bet,” she threw her arms up and ran back to Dom to gloat.

 

An hour passed by, and Melina had tried and failed to take a power nap. Deciding that she couldn’t just keep sitting around anymore, she decided to walk around the crew, and start a conversation with the least-busy looking one. She typically did not like talking to strangers but desperate times called for desperate measures.

The man they had mentioned earlier was still on the phone, but was standing against a pillar, not looking to be doing much else. She stood for a moment and watched him, trying to decide if he was friendly enough to approach.

Instead, she could loosely make out him ranting about rock groups, and the poor treatment the venue seemed to give him. He noticed Melina staring at him, but didn’t seem to give her a second thought. Either because he didn’t recognize her as the lead of the group he was trashing, and thus, didn’t care about insulting her, or because he just assumed she couldn’t understand him.

So definitely not a friendly face.

Melina decided it was probably better to walk away, not bothering to give him a second thought, but Regina sprung up again.

“Hey Melina, Dom and I are tired of waiting, and I’m getting real bad cravings, so we’re gonna run over and get some food nearby. Do you wanna come? We’re trying to track down Deaky, but Brianna’s not allowed because she’s the one who got us into this mess in the first place.”

“God yes,” Melina nearly moaned, jumping at the idea of finally being allowed to do something instead of stare at a wall and walk in circles. Regina waved Dom over, and the two began to make plans about what they were going to order, but Melina froze.

“Are you alright?” Dominick asked, eyeing Melina with worry. 

“Excuse me for a moment,” Melina said, holding a finger up and walking over to the crewman from before. Dom and Regina made eye contact, both of them equally confused and worried.

“Hello sir,” Melina said, her voice serious. “I think that if you’re going to speak that way about another person, the least you could be do is be upfront about it, don’t you think?” Melina asked.

Regina and Dom just stared at her in alarm, neither of them knowing what was going on.

“Excuse me?” The man asked.

“What you were saying over the phone about my friend. I heard everything. And I would appreciate it if you could at least have ownership enough to say what you were saying about her to her face,” Melina said. The man looked at her as if he was really seeing her for the first time. “Or should I tell them?”

The man’s eyes widened but he didn’t speak further.

“Okay,” Melina nodded. “Regina, he said that it was obvious that you were a slut because you’re clearly pregnant but also don’t have a ring on your finger, meaning that you have no respect for yourself and that your boyfriend should be ashamed as well.”

The man now had three pairs of angry eyes fixed on him, and clearly was uncomfortable with the negative attention.

“Fuck you, lady. I can say what I want. Your friend’s a slut and you probably are too. There, I said it in English, you happy?”

Regina seemed ready to charge forwards but Dom held her back. Usually he would have let her go at it, but as she was several months into her first pregnancy, he didn’t want her risking anything.

Instead, to both of their honest surprise, Melina calmly walked forwards and yanked down on his hair. The man began twisting and struggling, but to no avail. Melina’s grip was on him was water-tight, and if he yanked any harder, his hair would have ripped off altogether.

“Jesus, how strong is she?” Dom asked, his eyes wide and unable to look away.

“You’re going to apologize to her,” Melina told him, looking very content to hold this man like he was a ragdoll, despite the fact that she was easily a foot shorter than him and half as small. “Or I will make it my life’s mission to ensure that you never find work again. Do you understand me?”

The man, completely hunched over from being pulled down to Melina’s height looked fully humiliated. He was still writhing around and grunting.

“Do you understand?” Melina repeated, her voice raising.

“Fine, fuck you. I’m sorry,” he said, inclining his head to look at Regina as he said it.

“I don’t know, Regina, do you accept that apology?” Melina asked, turning to look at the stunned couple. “What about you, Dom?” Both of them seemed to have lost the ability to speak as they watched the man flop around like a fish. “I’ll take that as a yes,” Melina said, finally letting go of the man. He staggered backwards for a moment, looking at her with a mixture of rage and confusion.

He stepped forwards for a moment, as if he were going to grab at her in some way, but noticed that Regina and Dom had both stepped forwards as well, along with Melina who had shifted into a fighting stance.

Realizing that he was going to get nowhere, he growled and stormed off.

“Melina, I think I’m in love with you and that we should run off together and leave Dom behind,” Regina said with a grin, watching the man run down the hallway, shaking his neck around to try to relieve the tension of being bent at such an awkward angle.

“Buy me dinner first, we’ll see what happens,” Melina replied, her posture changing back into a casual stance. “Now, seriously, I really want to go get some dinner.”  


 

“And that’s why I know not to mess with Melina,” Dominick concluded to the table, watching the varying levels of awe from the rest of the group.

“You’re lying,” Chris said, simply.

“I’m not, I remember the day well,” Dom shook his head.

“But… she’s so tiny,” Chris said in confusion, his head tilted back, clearly trying to picture Melina in his mind.

“Though she be but little, she be fierce,” Ron quoted.

“You know her best, Jamie,” Chris said turning to her, still not believing what the others were saying. “Melina’s like… what? A good head shorter than me. At least. There’s no way she could have held down a guy who was two times bigger than her.”

“Well, she did carry me down a street and up a flight of stairs once,” Jamie said, suddenly remembering a story from a few years ago, even if it felt like ages in the past. “And I’m not exactly the lightest person in the world so I’d say that was quite a feat.”

“Now you’re lying to me, too” Chris insisted.

“Chris,” Ron said calmly, making sure Chris was making eye contact with him before he spoke again. “We’ve already established that Melina Mercury is an enigma we will never truly be able to understand. The sooner we accept this, the better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because more than one person asked what Melina did during Dom’s story from chapter 6. 
> 
> I worried that this was maybe a bit out of character but then I remembered the story where someone made a joke in poor taste about Freddie being gay and Freddie pulled him into a headlock lmao 
> 
> Also, the only reason I chose for the guy in the story to be Indian is because Freddie already spoke conversational Hindu in real life, as well as his parents being Gujarati. So it was between those two languages that Freddie/Melina would have been able to understand, and both have Indian roots. I promise I have no intention of demonizing anybody based on their race.


	17. and i don't smoke except for after i've held you, baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melina’s dramatic, Jamie’s reluctantly fond and absolutely nothing is new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> General chapter warnings: References to smoking, implications of sex though nothing explicit 
> 
> I took medicine that makes me sleepy around eleven on Sunday night, cranked this out in like 20-30 minutes, and then proceeded to pass tf out. If the quality is bad, blame it on that lol

“Fuck,” Melina exclaimed, flopping back onto the pillow. She took a minute to stare up at the ceiling, her chest rapidly rising and falling, before rolling over to look at Jamie.

This was Melina at her most beautiful, Jamie would think to herself, completely naked both physically and emotionally, and gazing with so much love in her eyes Jamie could hardly believe it was all directed at her.

“God, if we weren’t already married, I’d propose to you right now,” she declared, her black hair disheveled beyond redemption. Jamie was glad Melina couldn’t see herself in a mirror right now, because she would insist on trying to fix it up to look nice, and Jamie thought the messy look was cute.

“And if we weren’t already married, I’d say yes,” Jamie promised, stealing a quick kiss. When she sat up on the bed, throwing her legs over the edge, Melina leaned over and grabbed her arm. Jamie turned to look at her, smiling a bit at the pout on her face.

“Why are you leaving?” Melina asked, her voice small. “I just double-proposed to you.”

“I need a cigarette,” Jamie told her, “I’ll be just a minute.”

“Stay,” Melina insisted, tugging backwards on her arm with a surprising amount of force, trying to get her to fall back onto the bed.

“Do you want me to smoke in here?” Jamie asked, knowing Melina hated the smell that the cigarettes left behind, especially on the furniture. Melina’s features scrunched up in disgust, giving away her answer. “Then I have to go outside,” Jamie reminded her, gently removing Melina’s grip from her arm. “I’ll be just a moment.”

She leaned over to try for another kiss but Melina just turned her head away, still pouting. Jamie just shook her head, and bent over to retrieve her old t-shirt and tennis shoes. As she began walking towards the door, Melina burst out into song.

“Love of my life, you’ve hurt me,” Melina declared. “You’ve broken my heart, and now you leave me.”

“Melina,” Jamie began, turning back around.

“Love of my life, can’t you see? Bring it back, bring it back. Don’t take it away from me because you don’t know what it means to me,” Melina delivered the lyrics with a hand to her chest, miming as if she had been stabbed.

“Three minutes,” Jamie promised. “Three minutes and I’ll be back.”

“Love of my life, don’t leave me. You’ve stolen my love and now desert me,” Melina continued on as if Jamie hadn’t spoken.

“Three minutes, and I’ll be back and make it up to you,” Jamie amended.

“Oh, hurry back, hurry back,” Melina sang, which Jamie took as her cue to leave the room. She ran down the stairs and yanked the pack of cigarettes from the kitchen counter before making a beeline for the door outside.

She lit the cigarette in record time, before bringing it to her lips, and feeling her body completely untense. She sat for a moment as she exhaled, and wondered why exactly she humored Melina this much.

She knew the answer, of course she knew the answer.

But still, it wouldn’t actually kill Melina to be alone in bed for a few minutes while Jamie had a smoke.

Her brother wasn’t wrong when he made a joke about Jamie being whipped for her wife the last time she came home. She liked to think she could stand her ground, and she definitely did sometimes, but on things like this, things like Melina looking up at her with those pitiful doe eyes and begging to be held, Jamie knew she could never ever turn her down.

She dropped the cigarette down and stomped on it lightly to set out the spark, before returning up the stairs.

She slowly reopened the bedroom door and found Melina completely sprawled out across the bed, her eyes closed. For a moment, Jamie assumed she had just fallen back asleep but then, with her eyes still closed, she pointed an accusatory finger.

“It’s been four minutes. You promised three,” Melina informed her.

“Jesus, were you counting?” Jamie asked, kicking her shoes off near the dresser.

“There’s a clock on the bedside table,” Melina opened her eyes and looked at Jamie in amusement. “And it’s been four minutes.”

“I beg your forgiveness,” Jamie said, climbing back onto the bed with a mock-hand over her heart. “I hope you can find it in your heart to excuse me for the sin I have committed this day.”  

“I don’t know,” Melina said, trying to sound stern but her giggles ruining the image. “I mean, first you leave me in the middle of my double-proposal and then you lie about when you’re coming back. I think maybe one day we can move past this. But only time may heal these grievous wounds.”

“I understand,” Jamie said, nodding her head.

“But you can start your repentance by coming over here and cuddling me,” Melina declared, rolling over to her side.

“As you wish,” Jamie agreed, maneuvering herself so that she could wrap her arms around Melina’s back, and nuzzled into the crook of her neck. The two went silent, feeling the heartbeat of the other, and Jamie felt herself begin to drift off.

“This is how it’s supposed to be, isn’t it?” Melina asked, her voice so quiet it took Jamie a few seconds to make sure she was processing the words correctly.

“What do you mean?” Jamie asked, her brain unsure of whether she wasn’t following Melina’s question because she was tired, or because the question didn’t make sense.

“Just thinking to myself. Didn’t realize I said that out loud,” Melina said, shaking her head. “Go back to sleep.”

And Jamie did just that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I just thought it would be a nice time to mention that even though I don’t respond to every comment I get, I do read every single one of them, and I treasure them more than anything. So to anyone who has left a nice comment, you genuinely make my day when I read them. It still blows my mind that other people actually like these stories that I’m writing, so again, just… thank you!


	18. MINI-CHAPTER

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I haven’t been sleeping well so Brianna doesn’t get to either

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello… just a warning. This chapter is way shorter than usual bc I’ve finally started taking meds for my anxiety, and one of the side effects for the first week or two is fatigue. Like… I had to take timed five-minute naps just to not feel like I was passing out. So hopefully, that sorts itself out soon. 
> 
> (This chapter takes place during Happy as I Have Never Been.)

“You look like shit,” Regina greeted, as she walked into the studio the next morning, seeing only Brianna in the room. Brianna just eyed her, and didn’t dignify the comment with a response. “Didn’t sleep well?”

“I had the weirdest dream,” Brianna admitted. “We were playing a gig, we had just walked out, and there were thousands of people, but I couldn’t really see any of their faces. It was too dark. And we finally got up to the front, and Melina hadn’t walked out with us. And I realized that she had quit,” Brianna explained, watching for Regina’s reaction. “I don’t know how I knew but I did. Dreams don’t really make sense. So we all just decided to keep playing, just without a singer. We didn’t even have you or I sing. We just played our instruments. But when we started, none of the sound worked. We could move all we wanted; nothing was happening.”

Regina nodded along, not really sure why this had kept Brianna awake all night. Or why she was suddenly having performance anxiety dreams well over a decade into their career.

“So, suddenly you and I were in a classroom. Because, you know, you just move around in dreams a lot, there’s no logic. And Melina was the teacher!” Regina laughed at the face Brianna was making. The idea of Melina as a schoolteacher was too ridiculous to consider. She didn’t have the patience, for one thing. “And I asked her why she quit. And she looked angry, and she opened her mouth to reply.” Brianna stopped speaking, holding her hands out.

“And,” Regina encouraged.

“And that was it. I woke up. I don’t know what she was going to say,” Brianna shrugged, shaking her head, her curls flying in every direction. Regina stared at the other woman in disbelief.

“That’s it?” She asked, throwing her hands up in the air. “That is the least exciting dream I’ve ever heard. That’s why you’ve looked so tired the past few days?”

“Something about it has been bothering me, yes.” Brianna said, curtly. “But I can’t put my finger on what exactly it is.” Regina just rolled her eyes. She turned to the door when she heard it open, and saw Melina stride through.

“You’ll never guess what I dreamed last night,” she announced, walking over to the other two women. Brianna and Regina turned to each other with wide eyes. “I was in a classroom, but I didn’t seem to know what I was doing there. And you two stormed in and demanded to know why I wasn’t at a gig, but I didn’t know there was a gig. I didn’t know what to say,” Melina said in a rush.

“What?” Regina asked, her voice flat enough to make it sound more like a statement than a question. Brianna’s eyes were bulging out of her head.

“Are you serious?” Her voice rose several octaves in that question alone.

“Nah. I just heard you two talking when I walked through the door,” Melina finally cracked, her face scrunched up in a way that would have been considered cute if Regina wasn’t so angry.

“What if we were talking about something personal?” Regina demanded, which only made Melina laugh harder.

“Oh, you mean like when I was talking to Paula and you faked leaving the room so you could eavesdrop on me last week?” Melina asked, her crinkled face proving that she wasn’t actually angry about it, just amused that the other woman was trying to use that argument against her. Regina didn’t have anything to say to that. “But seriously, Bri, if I ever decide to leave the band, you will very much be aware before going out onstage.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't you hate it when you can clearly tell that a writer is trying to use symbolism, but you still have no idea what it means! anyways, that was my invitation for any of you to come up with your own analysis for what brianna's dream could have meant. 
> 
> see you next week, hopefully with something a little longer/more fulfilling!!


	19. maybe i’m the same as all those men writing songs of all their dreaming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which love actually was the solution to the problem all along

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter warning: brief mentions of sex, nothing explicit 
> 
> melina having writers block has absolutely nothing to do with me having writers block, completely and entirely a coincidence, why would anyone suggest otherwise?

“Bad day at work?” Jamie asked, peeking her head around the bedroom entrance after hearing the front door slam shut as Melina’s steps echoed up the stairs.

“Bad week at work,” Melina corrected, flinging her shoes in different directions before slamming herself down onto the bed. Jamie nodded in understanding, climbing onto the bed with her.

“C’mere,” she urged, opening her arms wide. Melina crawled over to Jamie and planted her face directly on Jamie’s chest, directly where her cleavage sat. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“We’re supposed to be writing songs for this new album, and I can’t think of a single thing more to write. My brain is blocked,” Melina muttered, her voice barely audible through Jamie’s chest.

“Well write a song for me,” Jamie joked. “Talk all about how much you love me,” she suggested, running her fingers through Melina’s hair.

“Hmm,” Melina considered, scooting off of the bed and grabbing the spare guitar that sat in the corner. “Let’s see.” She cleared her throat as if she were addressing an audience. “This next one is a song, expressing everything I’ve ever wanted to tell my beautiful wife.”

Jamie idly clapped and whooped, pretending to be an audience member.

_“I want you to fuck me with a strap-on, every single night. You may be shy, but baby, I know you’ll do it just right. Babe, you must…feel my lust…and with each thrust…everything just…”_

“You can stop now,” Jamie told her, head in her hands. “Something tells me that’s not going to make it onto the next album.”

“I thought that was award-worthy,” Melina insisted, removing the guitar strap from her shoulder. “I think audiences are very ready for lesbian strap-on music. It’s a growing market.”

“Have I ever told you that I hate you?” Jamie asked, sweetly. “Because I feel like it’s something you should know. Just so you’re not blind-sighted when I have the moving guys come by next week for my stuff.”

“Nah, if you hated me, you would have lied to me and told me the song was good and encouraged me to bring it to the band for work tomorrow,” Melina said. Jamie snickered as she tried to imagine the sight of Regina, Brianna and Jane all having to listen to what she was just subjected to.

“Well, wasn’t this the same band that write a whole song about naked men on bicycles or something?” Jamie said.

“That was Brianna’s,” Melina defended. “They’re all perverts, the lot of them. You know, the first song Jane ever wrote for the band was her complaining about her husband finishing too quickly,” Melina told her.

“Really?” Jamie asked. “Never would have pegged her as the type,” she said, trying to remember what Melina had told her about the bassist the night they met. Something about being secretly vicious. She supposed that was true, then.

“It was called ‘Misfire’,” Melina continued, nodding her head to Jamie’s widening eyes, the two of them grinning in amusement. “Like I said. Perverts. All of them. I’m the only one who has the decency to own up to the fact that I’m the dirty dirty rock star type.”

“But if what you tell me about all the relationship drama behind the scenes is true, then I’d say you and I are probably one of the more stable, sane relationships right now,” Jamie noted. “Not very rock-star-esque.”

“Hmmm, who’d have thought I’d be the one with the stable relationship,” Melina mused and then her face froze, suddenly looking at Jamie with intense concentration. Jamie would have opened her mouth to ask what Melina was doing, but knew it was better to let Melina work out whatever it was she needed to.

After a few moments of scanning Jamie’s face, Melina picked the guitar back up.

“Oh god, I don’t need to hear another verse of that song,” Jamie said.

“Shush, it’s not that,” Melina said, before idly plucking at the strings. She hummed to herself, feeling out the lyrics of whatever she wanted to say next.

Jamie adjusted her seat from sitting on her legs to reclining back against the headboard, not knowing how long Melina was going to take, but willing to give her the time she needed.

“How about this?” Melina asked, after about five minutes of loose humming.

_“You and me, we are destined, you'll agree, to spend the rest of our lives with each other. The rest of our days like two lovers, forever, yeah. Forever, my bijou.”_ The sincerity in Melina’s voice made Jamie’s heart stop for a moment.

“Wow,” Jamie said, genuinely not expecting what she had just heard. “What’s a bijou?” she asked, softly.

“It’s a jewel,” Melina explained. “Usually used to describe something small but exquisite. Something treasured.”

“Oh,” Jamie whispered, fanning at her eyes to ensure that no loose tears escaped. “Well, that’s beautiful. I definitely think that’s something that could go on the album.”

“I wasn’t thinking about the album when I wrote that,” Melina admitted, not taking her eyes away from Jamie.

“Sing it to me again,” Jamie requested, sitting up straighter.

Melina obliged, and sang the words with more confidence this time, changing the rhythm slightly as she felt out the words. The second she finished strumming the last chord, Jamie had grabbed both sides of her face and pulled her into a deep kiss. Melina happily reciprocated, the two of them awkwardly contorted around the guitar still strapped to Melina’s shoulders.

“You know, you keep writing me songs like that and I’ll happily use the strap on you every single night,” Jamie promised, pulling Melina in for another kiss.

“That can definitely be arranged,” Melina agreed, 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t usually write outlines for my stories but I did for this one and this was literally it: 
> 
> Melina: complains about writers block   
> Jamie: jokingly asks for a song about her  
> Melina: writes a crude song to be annoying  
> Jamie: is annoyed   
> Melina: actually writes bijou   
> Jamie: oh my god  
> they: are soft   
> audience: cries


	20. but right outside the door nobody knows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the things we do for our best friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warning: mentions of sex, stds, and infidelity. Nothing explicitly shown, though.

“Jesus, Reg, are you alright?” Brianna asked, noticing Regina shift around in her seat for what must have been the thousandth time that night. Melina had invited the band over for a relaxing evening after a stressful day of work, but the way she was squirming around in her seat was putting everyone on edge.

“I’m fine,” Regina said in a very unconvincing voice.

“Mhm,” Melina agreed. “And I’m a straight white man.” Everyone in the room gave her a confused look. “What? I thought we were saying things that were clearly untrue. I was just joining in. Brianna's got manageable hair, I'm a straight white man, and Regina is clearly fine." 

“I just… have an itch, alright? It’s nothing,” Regina insisted quickly, glaring at the three girls who looked at her with varying levels of disbelief.

“An itch like an STD?” Brianna questioned, her curiosity piqued.

“But Regina’s been with Dominick for years, she couldn’t possibly get an STD now,” Jane said, and suddenly all the eyes of disbelief were on her. “What? Oh no, do you think he cheated on her?” She asked with wide eyes, her hand over her mouth.

“You’re close,” Melina patted her on the knee, a pitying look on her face. “You’re about halfway right.” Jane took a moment to ponder that.

“Oh, you…” Jane said, pointing a finger at Regina and seemingly unable to be able to finish her sentence.

“Yes, and I’ve paid for it now, and can we move on please?” Regina asked, gritting her teeth in annoyance.

“But you should probably see a Doctor to make sure it’s nothing more serious,” Brianna pointed out.

“Do you want me to look and check?” Melina offered. “God knows we’ve known each other long enough, nothing you could do could scare me away at this point. Even if you've got herpes or something." 

“Or you could see a Doctor,” Brianna repeated.

“But I can just look and make sure before we go to all that trouble,” Melina argued.

“I mean, to be very fair here, if anyone has seen enough vaginas to know a healthy one versus a sick one it’s going to be Melina,” Jane piped up, shrugging casually. Melina smiled at that, both at what she viewed to be a compliment and at the scandalized look that appeared on Brianna’s face. Regina considered her options for a moment.

“We’re doing it in one of your bathrooms,” Regina demanded. “I don’t need these two peeping in,” she said, pointing accusatory fingers.

“As if we would want to,” Jane called out, watching Regina tug on Melina’s hand before dragging them both out of the room.   


The second the two of them entered the bathroom together, Regina slammed the door shut.

“This is so fucking weird,” she muttered to herself as she unbuttoned her jeans. Melina leaned against the door with a bored look on her face. “I don’t know if I’m relieved that you’re not being pervy about this, or offended.”

“You’ve known me long enough to know you’re not my type, Blondie. I mean, think about Jamie for a moment. Other than you both being white, I don’t think you have a single feature in common.” Regina considered that for a moment as she jumped on the counter and began pulling her underwear down. It took her a moment to realize what Melina had done, but knew that thanking her for giving her a distraction from the discomfort would have ruined the moment.

The second her underwear was off, she spread her legs wide and just sat there, gesturing at her lower legs with a loose hand.

“Go for it,” she shrugged. Melina smirked, and crawled down to her knees. She looked up, and squinted for a moment.

“Oh,” she said quietly after just a few seconds.

“Oh?” Regina repeated in a bit of a panic. “What does ‘Oh’ mean? Melina?” She asked, her voice growing more panicked with each second.

“Shush, I’m looking,” Melina ordered, not hearing the door slowly creep open.  
  


And that’s how Jamie found the two of them. Regina, sprawled across the counter with her panties pulled down and Melina about three inches away from her vagina. No one was sure who screamed first, but everyone else in the house could tell that a lot of noise was being made.

“Darling, darling, please calm down,” Melina pleaded, the first of the trio to recover.

“What in the name of all that is holy are you doing?” Jamie shrieked, a hand over her heart.

“It’s not what it looks like,” Regina insisted, which made the situation seem so much more worse than it needed to be.”

“We thought Regina had herpes,” Melina tried to elaborate. “And I don’t think it is, but there’s definitely something wrong there. You can look if you want,” she added desperately, thrusting her arms forward at Regina’s still open legs.

“What? What else could be it be?” Regina yelled in shock, slamming her legs closed so fast there was an audible slap. “And I don’t want her looking.”

“I don’t want to look,” Jamie reassured, still catching her breath. “Jesus, Melina, one day I’m going to actually die of a heart attack with you.” A long silence fell over the three of them, no one quite sure what to do next. Regina quietly pulled her jeans back up, wincing as she did so. “So, uh…” Jamie started, looking over at the wall. “Do you want some anti-itching cream from the downstairs cabinet?” She asked, her voice meek.

“Oh my god,” Regina cried, running from the room as fast as her legs could take her. A ridiculous sight with the way she scratched at her inner thigh as she ran.

“Use a condom next time,” Melina shouted down the hall.

Regina’s resounding “fuck you” echoed through the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t worry y’all, Regina just had an allergic reaction to new soap. Nothing serious.


	21. the night breeze carries something sweet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jamie and Jane have a bit more in common than just similar sounding names.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter warning: very very brief mentions of smoking and alcohol, shouldn't be an issue

Given the fact that Jamie did not enjoy parties as much as Melina did was the very groundwork of their relationship, Jamie knew that Melina would not be too offended to see she had stepped out after the party inside had gotten a bit too hectic.

She walked outside onto the balcony and let her eyes slide shut as she felt the cool air sweep over her for a moment, a welcome contrast to the sweaty mass of bodies inside. When she reopened them, she noticed that a figure was already standing there, looking over across the large yard.

Jane Deacon.

The two had never really spoken, rarely sharing more than a greeting or a goodbye. Jamie didn’t know much about Jane, but she had always liked her.

She walked over to the balcony, a close enough distance to be friendly, but far enough to leave her space if need be. Jane acknowledged her with a nod and a small smile.

“You want a smoke?” Jamie offered, pulling the cigarettes out of her pocket.

“No, thank you,” Jane said, shaking her head politely. “I stopped after I got pregnant with my first child, I heard it was bad for the baby. By the time she was born, I had already kicked the habit.”

“Do you mind if I?” Jamie asked, already preparing to walk away to avoid blowing any unwanted smoke into her face.

Jane just waved a small hand, the universal gesture for ‘go for it.’ Jamie did just that, and felt her whole self unwind, the stress from the party and the length she had gone without a cigarette binding her body with tension. The two sat in silence as Jamie exhaled, the cool breeze ruffling Jane’s mess of curls.

“You enjoying the party?” Jamie asked after a long silence, seeing as Jane had moved to watch her instead of turning back to look out the balcony. This was a house party, and also technically her house, so she felt a sudden need to make sure the guests were having a good time.

“Melina can throw a party like no other,” Jane said, which wasn’t really an answer. “I’ll go back in once some music starts playing, but right now there’s just a bit too many people.”

“Thought you’d be used to that,” Jamie commented idly. “How many people did you play for the other week? A million?”

“A couple hundred thousand, but who’s counting?” Jane joked. “But there’s a difference when there’s a giant pit between you and them. You never really get comfortable when they all huddle against you. Either way, it’s like you’re not even real to them. Like they just look though you and expect you not to notice.”

“What keeps you going, then? Why do you do it?” Jamie asked, something she could never bring up around Melina. Melina, who soaked up the attention of the crowd like she needed it to survive. Like she could live forever without food or water or shelter, but not without those screaming for her in the audience.

Jane sighed for a moment as she seemed to genuinely think about the question. As she considered, Jamie took a minute to look at this woman. The very antithesis of what she imagined a rock star to be. A tiny mother of four who ducks out of parties and doesn’t smoke and remains faithful to their long-term partner.

“I don’t know, really. I kind of joined this whole thing on accident. When I auditioned for a student band, I thought it was going to be a hobby, just something to do for fun on the weekends. And then we were recording albums and the concerts got bigger and bigger until we were on television and breaking records and performing arenas. It all feels like it happened in a flash. I don’t know where the years went,” Jane’s voice was soft.

Jamie suddenly realized this was probably the most words she had ever heard Jane say in one setting.

“I think Melina has a lot to do with it, if I’m honest. I can’t imagine ever leaving her for long. Every time I ever consider the idea, you know, break away and move back home with my kids, her big brown eyes just pop up and ask me something. You know what I mean? She looks at you like you’re the most important person in her world, and you just can’t say no to her sometimes. I think if Melina ever decided she was done, then I would be, too.”

Jamie did know.

“Which means you’re never going to be done,” Jamie finished for her with a laugh, trying to imagine a world in which Melina could completely give up the life she had. The universe was going to have to claw it out of her tiny, determined hands if it wanted her to settle down and stop making music.  

“Probably not. We’ll roll her out onstage in a wheelchair and she’ll still give the best damn performance anyone’s ever seen,” Jane stated with a mixture of humor and pride in her voice.

“Cheers to that,” Jamie nodded, and they both fell back into silence. Jamie took out another cigarette and Jane’s eyes returned to the greenery ahead.

After several minutes of blissful calm, they heard a third person enter the balcony.

“Oh good,” Pete sighed a breath of relief. “Melina went looking for Jamie and couldn’t find her, and when Regina couldn’t find Jane they both began thinking that people were going missing.”

“What?” Jamie asked.

“The two of them may be slightly intoxicated,” Pete conceded.

“Well, we already knew that,” Jane said.

“I’ll let Melina know you two’re safe,” Pete reassured. “And I don’t have to tell them where you are if you want your privacy,” she offered.

“No, that’s okay, I’m about to go in,” Jamie said, stomping her cigarette out on the ground. “But thank you.”

Pete nodded and went back into the house. Jamie and Jane both looked at each other for a long moment before nodding as they went their separate ways.

“Hey, Jamie,” Jane called out, her voice almost too quiet to hear.

“Hm?” Jamie turned back around in confusion.

“Thank you,” Jane whispered.

“For what?” Jamie asked, her eyebrows furrowed, trying to think if anything she had said had been helpful.

“For making Melina happy,” Jane said.

“You don’t have to thank me for that,” Jamie shook her head. “It’s what she deserves.”

“But thank you for realizing it,” Jane continued. “I’ve known her since I was nineteen years old and I’ve never seen her as content as I have than when she’s with you.” Jamie couldn’t stop the smile that began creeping onto her face.

“Good night, Jane,” Jamie said, waving a hand in farewell.

“Good night, Jamie.” Jane returned the wave as Jamie slipped back inside, to Melina's shriek of excitement. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I don’t give Jane enough attention in this series, so here you go. Fucking superb, you funky ‘lil bassist. 
> 
> Anyways, my week has been absolutely crazy, and this story was a bit rushed. How has yours been?


	22. i don't need the world to see that i've been the best i can be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which no one knows what boundaries are anymore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wowowow its been so long… sorry!! Everything’s fine, it’s just that life got weird. Here’s a short lil chapter that in no way makes up several months’ worth of content. Hope y’all have been doing well. 
> 
> Chapter warnings: mentions of infertility, violent imagery (nothing actually happens)

“I hate interviews,” Melina muttered at Regina as they both took turns fixing the microphones attached to their shirts.

“Never would have guessed,” Regina returned with a smirk. “You know, they’ve always been so lovely and respectful of our privacy. I can’t imagine why this wouldn’t be your favorite thing in the world,” she continued in what some may have suggested was too much sarcasm.

“Alright, you ladies ready to go?”, a squirrely looking man by the name of Wesley Jones, asked them with a soft smile. The two in question just nodded their heads, intentionally avoiding looking at one another lest they burst into laughter. “Okay. Hello. First question, Melina, throughout the seventies, you were seen as sort of a… well, an exotic sex symbol, really,” he began. 

Regina let out a sharp laugh, knowing that this type of question did not bode well for how the interview was going to go.

“When you cut your hair,” he ignored the noise and continued on, “was that in defiance of that ideal? What sort of statement were you trying to make there?”

“That I wanted shorter hair?” Melina retorted with a raised eyebrow. “Really, with all the jumping around onstage it gets in your eyes if you don’t tie it back. And why bother with that if you can just chop it all off?”

“So it wasn’t some sort of… way to rebel and kind of uglify yourself?” He insisted.

This time Regina let out a noise of disgust, but Wesley still showed no signs of stopping.

“I was always, especially back then, trying to get a reaction out of others. I’ve never really cared about whether it’s a good or bad one. It’s never been important to me how much others find me attractive or not,” Melina said, simply.

“Even though it arguably did help your sales,” Wesley shrugged.

“Yes, and her voice and our playing had absolutely nothing to do with that,” Regina responded, finally fed up.

“Moving on then,” Wesley said finally. “So people have been wondering about the ring on your finger. In the seventies, you mentioned your long-term boyfriend Mark Austin, but the two of you seemed to have split and you took the ring off but it is back on again. So have you finally tied the knot, so to speak?”

Melina and Regina both conveyed to each other in a single glance how much they wished they were anywhere else.

“I did get married, yes, back in April,” Melina said.

“No pictures? No word to the fans?” Wesley insisted. “Were you there, Regina?”

“No, it was… it really was sort of a proclamation of love. So it felt… it was personal to both of us and we limited it to only a handful of friends and family. Regina was there,” Melina confirmed, swiftly dodging any mention of pronouns or namedropping.

“Any plans for children now?” Wesley asked, apparently having no shame whatsoever.

“You know, we do have music. We’d be very happy to talk about out next album, it’s why we’re here,” Regina spoke up again, her fist angrily tapping against her leg.

“I was getting to that,” Wesley insisted. “We have to be able to sell the story, and we’ll include the actual music information below the headlines. Melina?”

“No plans at the moment. I’m afraid my lifestyle’s a bit too hectic to try to bring a child into the mix,” Melina said with a tight smile.

“But that doesn’t seem to be cause for concern for any of the other members,” Wesley said, sending a subtle nod to Regina, who had two children of her own.

“Well, just because we tour together doesn’t mean we all have completely similar lifestyles. You ever seen Brianna piss-drunk at a bar at three in the morning?” Melina tried to joke.

“But don’t you think that having a child would be worth giving up all of that?” Wesley insisted, and honestly it sounded less like an interview now and more like his own personal questions.

“I’m pretty sure that’s none of your concern. Unless you’re asking because you wanna impregnate her yourself,” Regina began. Melina placed a hand on her thigh.

“I can’t have children,” Melina said so flatly it felt like all of the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. “And I don’t want to talk about it,” she continued in a voice that suggested that Wesley wouldn’t be walking out of the interview with his penis intact if he kept this line of questioning up.

Regina took Melina’s hand and held it for a moment in support.

Wesley at least had the decency to look ashamed.

“So after listening to the single from this upcoming album,” Wesley began again, and altogether Regina hated that Melina had to give up that personal bit of information, she figured it was almost worth it to see Wesley now squirming in his seat in discomfort. Good. Give him a taste of his own medicine.

 

“Hello,” Regina called out to Wesley, who had packed up his things and was about to leave the room. She sent him a dazzling smile to get his guard down.

“Yes, Regina?” Wesley turned to her.

“I think we would both agree that it would be better for everybody if you cut that shit about Melina and pregnancy out of any of the finished articles,” Regina said, the smile dropping from her face.

“Are you threatening me?” Wesley challenged, picking up on the tone in her voice.

“No no, that was not a threat,” Regina shook her head. “This is a threat. If you think, even for a second, about putting anything about Melina and her ability to have children into the public eye, I will personally track you down, chop off your penis, and shove it into your mouth as a ball gag to stop you from screaming due to the inordinate amount of pain you would definitely be in. Are we clear?”

Wesley opened his mouth to speak, but Regina cut him off.

“And if you think, ‘oh this is just a general hyperbolic threat to express her displeasure, she’s not literally claiming to want to cut my balls off,’ just know, I know that you live on Roker Terrace in Langtree. I know that you have a serious girlfriend that you’re living with but you haven’t proposed yet because you’re sleeping with another woman on the side. I know the types of work you usually publish, and I know you’re not going to humiliate my friend this time because I KNOW that you know, deep down, I would actually and very happily chop your penis off. Because maybe then you would feel the deep humiliation and shame of not being able to have kids yourself. And you would, for the first time in your life, wish you could take back what you did even if you couldn’t. Just like you wouldn’t be able to undo the sudden gaping hole where your penis once rested. So think about your choices today, Wesley, and hopefully you’ll be able to make the right one.”

“I,” Wesley opened his mouth and shut it again.

“Nice talking to you,” Regina smiled, flashing her teeth again before turning and walking out of the room.


End file.
